Motion Health & Fitness

Category: cardio

  • Why Cardiovascular / Aerobic Exercise Is So Vital to Everyone

    Why Cardiovascular / Aerobic Exercise Is So Vital to Everyone

    Cardiovascular endurance is considered one of the 5 parameters of fitness (the others being muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition).

    As you might imagine, this makes cardiovascular exercise — which most people simply call “cardio” — vital to everyone’s exercise program. 
     
    So, how much cardio do you need?
     
    According to the Physical Activity Guidelines, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, aerobic, physical activity each week; or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity, aerobic, physical activity; or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. 
     
    The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) concurs. The ACSM recommends that adults accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five days per week for basic fitness. If you up the ante to vigorous exercise intensity, 30 minutes three days per week it will also get the job done. 
     
    While that’s enough to keep your heart healthy, it may not be enough to promote weight loss. The Institute of Medicine advises Americans to get an hour of physical activity a day to control their weight.    
     
    Due to the prevalence of obesity and overweight in the US — a whopping 70 percent of Americans are overweight or obese — many people think of cardiovascular exercise merely as a means to lose weight. However, even those with an ideal, healthy body weight need to regularly perform cardio to maintain good health and prevent disease.
     
    The cardiovascular system, in particular, needs to be exercised regularly to maintain optimum health. It’s about being healthy from the inside out, not just looking good on the outside. 
     
    Exercises, such as walking, running, cycling, swimming or some other form of aerobic exercise, will all stimulate the cardiovascular system, but intensity matters. Obviously, the heart isn’t strengthened as much, and doesn’t make as much adaptation, by walking at 3.5 mph as it does when running at 7 mph.
     
    Ultimately, there is a difference between being fit and being healthy. Being fit is a much stricter standard.
     
    Choose activities that you enjoy. The results will be essentially the same. Studies show that a 10-15 week program of cycling, swimming or running, done 5 days per week, 30 minutes per session, at 70% heart-rate reserve (HRR), will result in comparable improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness.
     
    Let’s look at the benefits of regular aerobic exercise:
     
    – Weight loss or maintenance (healthy body composition) 
     
    MEN:
    Healthy = 18-24% body fat 
    Fit = 14-17% body fat 
    Essential = 2-5% body fat
    WOMEN:
    Healthy = 25-31% body fat 
    Fit = 21-24% body fat 
    Essential = 10-13% body fat
     
    An exercise program conducted 3 times per week, burning 300-400 cals per session, could result in a 16-pound weight loss in one year.
     
    – Decreased appetite in some people
     
    – Reduces the risks of coronary artery disease
     
     A six-year study released in September, 2002 showed that for middle-aged or older women, walking, or an equal amount of more strenuous exercise, for 2 1/2 hours per week (5 days x 30 mins.) can cut heart disease and stroke risk by just over one third.
     
    – Increases levels of HDLs (healthy cholesterol) and decreases levels of LDLs (unhealthy cholesterol)
     
    – Decreases triglycerides (blood fats)
     
    – Lower resting heart rate:
    • Men average about 70 beats per minute
    • Women average about 75 beats per minute
      
    – Decreases blood pressure:  
    <120/80 = normal
    120-129/<80 = elevated
    130-139/80-89 = Stage 1 hypertension
    140 or above/90 or above = Stage 2 hypertension
     
    – Increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin and reduces blood glucose levels. This is a critical part of the treatment program for diabetics.
     
    – Weight bearing exercises (running, brisk walking) strengthen the skeletal system, reducing the chances of osteoporosis, which is characterized by reduced bone mass and increased susceptibility to fractures. This occurs more commonly in women over 45 and affects an estimated 15-20 million Americans.
     
    – Increases joint range of motion. Frequently part of the treatment for those with arthritis. Flexibility is developed primarily up to and between the ages of 7-12 and begins to decline after adolescence, accelerating after the age of 25 (unless otherwise maintained) 
     
    Why Aerobic Exercise Works
     
    Regular aerobic exercise can lead to increased cardiovascular endurance due to the following factors:
     
    – Increased lactate threshold (the time when your muscles start to burn and fatigue)
     
    – Increase of ATP (fuel) in mitochondria, the cell’s power plant or engine
     
    – Increase in the number and size of mitochondria
     
    In short, you can become a high-performance, human machine.
     
    Working out in the “fat-burning zone” is not the most efficient way to lose weight. As exercise intensity increases, the body burns less and less fat and more and more carbohydrates. That’s why some people say it’s best to work out at low to moderate intensities, in the so-called “fat-burning zone.” But when it comes to weight loss, what matters most is how many total calories you burn. High-intensity exercise burns the most calories.
     
    That said, even brisk walking is enough to keep your heart healthy. Exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous to be beneficial. Studies show that moderate physical activity – such as a half-hour of brisk walking or swimming – on most days of the week can help fight off heart disease and lower your risk of diabetes and some cancers, among other health benefits.
     
    However, while walking is good for your overall health, it may not burn enough calories to help you lose a substantial amount of weight. Nor will it get you a well-toned, sculpted body. 
     
    To get buff, you’ll need to add resistance training to your workout regimen. Yet, even with a good cardio and strength program, you may never look like a swimsuit model (good genes and airbrushing help in that regard), but you can slim down and firm up. 
     
    The most important thing is to improve your health, so that your doctor says you look as good from the inside as you do on the outside. 
  • Use Interval Training to Supercharge Your Workouts

    Use Interval Training to Supercharge Your Workouts

    One of the most trendy workouts these days is interval training, in which participants alternate between higher intensity activities and lower intensity rest or relief periods. Naturally, this requires different rates of speed and degrees of effort.

    The appeal of this type of workout is that it allows you to burn more calories without spending more time at the gym. Most interval training sessions are completed in 30 minutes or less.
     
    Interval training has become a popular fitness regime in recent years because it is so effective. Interval training incorporates a lot of short bursts of high-impact cardio — such as jumping jacks, jumping rope and running in place — followed by low-intensity recovery periods. This type of workout is a very efficient way to quickly improve your fitness level.
     
    According to a 2011 study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, just two weeks of high-intensity intervals improves your aerobic capacity as much as six to eight weeks of endurance training.
     
    When performing intervals, participants will often get their heart rates up to at least 80 percent of maximum for short periods of time and then dial back down to a slow or moderate pace of 40-50 percent of maximum.
     
    Many exercise adherents are now engaging in high intensity interval training (HIIT), which is typically performed in 20-minute bouts performed at 85-95 percent of maximal heart rate. The value of these shorter, higher intensity sessions is that they help fight boredom and pack a big punch in a relatively short period of time. Most HIIT workouts are completed in 30 minutes or less.
     
    Those looking for an even more intense workout can try doing supramaximal interval training (SMIT), which involves performing all-out bursts of exercise, interspersed with full rest periods, or no activity.
     
    Beginners might use a 1:2 work to recovery ratio, in which they work really hard for 20-30 seconds, for example, and then recover for 40-60 seconds. In essence, the recovery periods are twice as long as the high-intensity bouts.
     
    As your conditioning improves, you might advance to a 1:1 ratio — 30 seconds of high intensity work, for example, followed by 30 seconds of recovery.
     
    A common formula for more conditioned people involves a 2:1 ratio of work to recovery periods. For example, 20–90 seconds of hard sprinting alternated with 10–45 seconds of jogging or walking.
     
    There are many different work/recovery formulas and you can experiment to find what works best for you. But remember, your body will eventually adapt and you will need to continually change the stimulus in order to accommodate that adaptation.
     
    The beauty of intervals is that they’re not just for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. These routines can also benefit older folks and those with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.
     
    Mixing in some interval training can produce additional benefits beyond that of steady-paced exercise.
     
    Researchers in Australia have found that sprints as short as 8 seconds can be beneficial. Cycling three times per week, participants alternated between 12 seconds of slow, gentle peddling and 8 seconds of intense sprints, peddling as hard as they could. Despite the fact that they did this for 20-minutes at a time — meaning the actual hard exercise totaled just 8 minutes — the payoff was significant.
     
    Over the course of four months, participants in the study, which was performed at the University of New South Wales, lost an average of six pounds of body fat. By comparison, those who cycled at a steady pace for 40 minutes, without mixing in the interval sprints, lost less than two pounds. Additionally, participants who performed intervals improved both their blood pressure and blood sugar readings.
     
    The same interval techniques can be applied to running, swimming, rowing, stair-climbing or hill-climbing. Again, you don’t necessarily need to keep the high-intensity bursts to 20 seconds. You can also try 30-second blasts or even longer periods — whatever suits you.
     
    The Australian protocol was very similar to Tabata training, which consists of performing an activity all-out for 20 seconds, resting for 10 seconds, and then repeating the on-off sequence for four minutes total.
     
    Keep in mind that the recovery or rest period in your intervals is just as important as the high intensity period since it helps to strengthen your heart. Rapidly raising your heart rate and then dropping it creates ventricular remodeling, which allows greater cardiac output and improved performance.
     
    One of the best measures of fitness is aerobic capacity, or the ability of the heart and lungs to get oxygen to the muscles. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you’ll be able to exercise longer and/or with more intensity.
     
    Since high-intensity interval training is, well, intense, it shouldn’t be overused. Your body needs adequate time to recover between workouts, so it’s best to limit your HIIT workouts to three days per week. Light to moderate, steady-state aerobic exercise is ideal on your recovery days.
     
    One of the most important elements of high-intensity interval training is a proper and adequate warmup, which should be at least 5-10 minutes long. This will prepare your body for the high-intensity workout to come.
     
    Beginners shouldn’t rush into strenuous workouts before their body is ready, or else they may injure their muscles, tendons or bones. Instead, start slowly and, as your stamina improves, challenge yourself by increasing the intensity or the duration of your intervals.
     
    The best workout plan combines interval training with a comprehensive strength training plan. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue; your body uses it to burn fat. So, the more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories/fat you’ll burn throughout the day, even while you sleep. Simply put, more muscle tissue requires more energy.
     
    As always…. Get in Motion. Stay in Motion.