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Aerobic
Exercise Benefits
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Aerobic
exercise, also referred to as cardiovascular
exercise, are those exercises that get your heart pumping within your
target
heart rate zone.
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As you perform cardio exercises,
you are
moving your arms and legs with a rhythmic movement that allows your
body
to pump blood and oxygen to all parts of your body.
This
strengthens your heart, burns calories and burns fat. There
are many different types of aerobics so your workout
routine will never get boring.
Benefits
of Aerobic Exercise
Many activities you may perform
daily could be
considered cardiovascular exercises such as mowing the lawn, walking
the dog
or even going up and down the stairs to do laundry. But to
really
get the benefit from aerobics, you want to try incorporating a
structured workout routine that includes activities such as walking,
running, swimming, bicycling, dancing or some form of high activity
exercises.
By adding just 30 minutes of aerobics 3 to 4 times a week, you can help
minimize many medical risks and diseases such as;
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- High Cholesterol
- High Blood Pressure
Additionally, you can benefit from aerobic exercise by;
- Recuding risk of obesity
- Improved immune system
- Improved circulation
- Increased Stamina
- Improved Alterness
- Strengthen Heart Muscle
- More Energy
Fat
Burning Benefits
If you are
looking to lose weight and burn fat then aerobic exercises are one of
the
best ways to accomplish this. With a cardio
workout, not
only are you getting the medical benefits of reducing risks of certain
diseases, you will be burning calories and fat.
Low to medium
impact cardio workouts burn approximately 60% of fat of the total calories
burned during exercise. This means that if you did
a brisk walk for
45 minutes
and burned approximately 250 calories you would be burning 150 fat
calories.
The total number of calories you burn will depend on
your age, gender, weight and activity. The best way to see
how
many calories you burned during exercise is to use an interactive
exercise calorie calculator.
Although the low to medium intense cardio workouts
bring you a higher percent of fat
burned, they also give you a lower
total calories burned. With higher impact cardio workouts
you
can actually burn more calories, and approximately 35% of this would be
fat used for energy. So, depending on the total calories
burned,
you may get a higher fat burn with the high impact aerobics.
However, you need to ensure you can last the full duration at this high
intense level to get the most out of your fat
burning exercises.
Aerobic
versus
Anaerobic
You
may have heard the term anaerobic exercise
and associated this
with
strength training exercises such as weight lifting. While
these
are anaerobic exercises there are times when your cardio routine
turns into an anaerobic exercise. This happens when you exert
more effort or
your exercise requires a higher level of challenge. When this
happens, your body uses
a
higher percentage of carbohydrates for fuel and less fat. One
type of workout that includes both anaerobic and typical cardio
exercises is interval training.
Types
of Aerobic Exercises
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When
planning your weekly exercise routine, you should always plan for both
aerobic and strength training exercises to get the most out of your
weight loss
routines. Be sure to make your cardio workouts varied and
fun. By adding variety, you will be more likely to stick to
your
workouts.
There are several
different types of cardio workouts. You can purchase DVD’s
that will
combine both aerobic and strength training. You can go for a
brisk
walk, jogging
or running.
Running is a great aerobic exercise but takes
some
training and dedication. If you want to give it a try here's an article for the
beginning runner from a site dedicated to running. |
Additionally, you could join a gym
and
use
their training machines such as the treadmill or elliptical
machines or purchase your own equipment. Another way to mix
it
up with aerobic and anaerobic exercises are to try high
intense
interval
training, or circuit
training.
One
of the downfalls of some aerobics are the impact to your body’s joints;
especially the knees. If you have soreness in your joints or
are
past the age of 40, like me, then try doing some aerobics that are
friendlier on the joints.
One of my favorite joint
friendly exercises is water
aerobics exercises. Try a
brisk walk instead of running or
use an elliptical machine instead of the treadmill. Or if
using a
treadmill, keep it at a brisk walk and use the incline to get the
benefit of a challenging workout.
Listening to music while you walk is a great energizer and makes it
more fun. Here's a great article on walking music that will help you
select the right sounds for your walk.
A great alternative to walking is to get out your bike. Biking for
exercise gives you all the benefits of aerobic exercise plus
you get to enjoy the weather without stressing your joints.
Regardless
of what type of cardio workout you choose, you should aim to do at
least 30 minutes of cardio exercises at least 3 to 4 times a
week.
This
will help minimize the risk of certain diseases as well as the benefits
of losing weight.
To find out how you can benefit from aerobic
exercise be sure to check out this article on the health benefits of
exercise.
Related
Articles
Benefits of Strength Training
In addition to the benefits of your aerobics find out how you can
benefit by adding some strength training.
Walking for Women Find out how you can benefit from this type of exercise.
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