Aerobic Exercise For
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A Healthy Heart
If you want to have a healthy heart, you need to perform aerobic exercise. A successful aerobic exercise program involves frequent physical activity that is rhythmic, repetitive, challenges the circulatory system, and uses large muscles. The program must significantly increase the blood flow to the muscles for an extended period of time, which promotes cardiovascular fitness. Such exercises are called dynamic or aerobic (with oxygen). Aerobic exercise generally involves using your big muscles including your back, chest, legs, and butt.
Aerobic activities really "get the blood pumping." As the heart beats
faster, the blood circulates more quickly, delivering extra oxygen to
the muscles. This builds strength, or cardiovascular fitness. Some
recommended aerobic activities are:
The best aerobic exercise is the one you will enjoy and do regularly!
Walking for fitness
Walking can be an excellent aerobic activity and it doesn't have to be hard work. Using the principles from The Alexander Technique you can learn how to walk tall, with good posture and get a very enjoyable workout at the same time.
Keeping Yourself Safe
Like most exercises, aerobic exercises are best done with an eye toward safety. This means that any program should include a warm-up and some stretching before starting to exercise, and a cool-down at the end.
The warm-up functions to slowly increase your heart rate while warming up your muscles for the exercise that you are about to perform. If you do not warm-up you will fatigue more easily. It's a good idea to choose a warm-up that utilizes the same muscles that you will be using during your workout. If you are new to exercise make sure that you warm up a little longer. Often time's people skip their warm-up but this is setting you up for an injury. A proper warm-up helps to prevent injuries since it makes your muscles and joints more pliable and less likely to tear. A good rule of thumb is warming up for about 5-15 minutes.
Stretching is another key component for fitness. The best time to stretch is after you have warmed your muscles up. Stretching is very important in maintaining flexibility. As we age, our tendons begin to get tighter and shorter so stretching helps you to move about more easily.
Keep moving! The cool-down functions to slowly decrease your heart rate while redirecting blood flow back to normal. Your cool-down should last between 5 to 10 minutes. If you are jogging, just walk for another 5 minutes. If you are cycling, cycle slowly for about 5 minutes. Ultimately, the goal of the cool-down is to continue moving after your aerobic conditioning to prevent the blood from pooling in your lower extremities. Stopping too quickly can also place undue stress on your heart.
On Line Fitness Coaching Services and F.R.E.E fitness analysis
We are now offering on line fitness coaching . We will only be accepting a limited number of people to coach so that they can each be given the attention they deserve.
Here are some of the benefits you can expect from on line fitness coaching:
Click here to check out our coaching services and to get a f.r.e.e fitness analysis.
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