Aerobic Exercise

Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic means "with oxygen." During aerobic exercise, the heart, lungs and blood vessels respond to exercise by working harder to get oxygen to all the body's muscles. So, your heart and lungs get a workout at the same time as your muscles. Aerobic or cardio exercise makes you sweat, breathe harder and your heart beat faster. Aerobic activity gets your heart rate up and keeps it up for an extended amount of time.
Examples of Aerobic exercise are brisk walking, running, swimming, walking on a treadmill or elliptical, bicycling, kayaking. Anything that gets your heart pumping. Aerobic exercise produces a temporary increase in respiration and heart rate. Other examples are skipping, jumping rope, dancing and climbing stairs. Anaerobic exercise which means “without oxygen” are exercises like weightlifting and sprinting. Weightlifting and short bursts of activity - like sprints are not considered aerobic exercise. They only get your heart rate up for a short amount of time. Still, they're important because they help build muscle.

Why you need aerobic ex.
Getting in shape keeps you healthy and lowers your risk for medical conditions. Aerobic exercise helps to:
Control weight
Strengthen bones and muscles
Keep blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels in check
Cut your risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers
Put you in a better mood
Reduce stress
Suppress appetite
Reduce body fat
Increase Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This means that the amount of calories burned while at rest increases.
Increase Circulatory and Respiratory Function
Increase energy expenditure
Retention of Tissue Protein and building of lean body mass levels
How much moderate activity do you need?
The Institute of Medicine increased its recommendation from 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week to 60 minutes of moderate exercise every day. The increased recommendations were made because the former were not enough to maintain a body weight within the recommended Body Mass Index (BMI) range (18.5 – 25 kg/m2).
Get your sweat on
Most people prefer to work out at a moderate intensity. Take the "talk test" to gauge your intensity:
Moderate - You will feel comfortable and can talk, but not sing.
Vigorous - You can only say a few words before you need to pause to take a breath.
Spread your workouts throughout the week to fit them into your schedule. Mix and match moderate and vigorous exercise, if you choose (one minute of vigorous activity equals two minutes of moderate activity.) Aim for 60 minute moderate-intensity sessions, five days a week. If you can't be active for 60 minutes at a time, break it up. Take a 30-minute walk in the morning, a 15 min. walk at lunch and a 15 min. one in the evening. As you get in shape, you'll be able to work out longer, with more intensity, and recover more quickly.
Tweak your lifestyle
For most people, aerobic exercise needs to be done in addition to daily activities. But some tasks or activities are considered aerobic exercise if they're done for at least 10 minutes continuously:
Walking the dog
Doing yard work, such as gardening, mowing the lawn with a push-mower or raking leaves
Shoveling dirt
Cleaning house
Dancing
Examples of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise:
Brisk walking, about three miles per hour
Treadmill
Exercise Bike or Elliptical
Bicycling less than 10 miles per hour
Water aerobics
Doubles tennis
Ballroom dancing
Examples of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise:
Running
Bicycling more than 10 miles per hour
Jumping rope
Swimming laps
Singles tennis
Kickboxing or step aerobics class
Cross-country skiing
Any activity is better than no activity. Even 60 minutes of exercise a week helps your health. But keep in mind that health benefits go up with the amount of exercise you do.
Updated on 05/12/2010 SOURCES:
American College of Sports Medicine. Physical activity and public health guidelines. Accessed: 02/04/2010
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physical activity and health. Accessed: 02/04/2010
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How much physical activity do adults need? Accessed: 02/04/2010
American Heart Association. What type of physical activity is best? Accessed: 02/04/2010
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William's Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy by Staci Nix, Mosby Elsevier, 2009, St. Louis.
Janine Ivanelli 206 841-1965
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