Aerobic exercise is a light-to-moderate-intensity physical activity that uses body’s large muscle groups, is rhythmic, rapid and repetitive without gasping for air. It increases heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses.
Aerobic means “with oxygen.” When you practice aerobic exercise, your breathing controls the amount of oxygen that reaches your muscles helping you burn energy.
Focusing on duration rather than intensity, aerobic exercise is an activity that gets you up, moving and make you sweat. Exercising can be tough and challenging, but it can become easier by doing activities that you enjoy with people you like to spend time with.
Aerobic exercises indicate type of recurring structured physical activity that requires the body’s metabolic system to use oxygen to produce energy and this activity is by far one of the best ways to live a longer and healthier life. Risks of chronic lifestyle diseases are dramatically cut down by a moderate intensity exercise. In addition the probability of heart attack decreases drastically, bone density can achieve healthier levels and even sleep can benefit.
Exercise is most essential for proper health, fitness and for every sphere of life, so today’s youth especially need to exercise more than ever, because the junk food they consume every day can hamper their quality of life.
If you are not healthy, you cannot lead a happy life and won’t be able to contribute to the expansion of society. Thus, one needs to exercise to beat all these problems. But, it is not just about the youth but also about every member of the society.
These days, physical activities take places in colleges more than often. The professional experts are called to the campus for organizing physical exercises. Thus, it is a great opportunity for everyone who wishes to do it.
Exercise is important for college kids as well as for office workers. The desk job requires the person to sit at the desk for long hours without breaks. This gives rise to a very unhealthy lifestyle and make life miserable as they sit all day and then come back home and lie down and sleep. Therefore, it is important to exercise to develop healthy lifestyle and prevent any damaging disease.
There are different levels of aerobic activities ranging from low-to-moderate-to-high intensity categories, so you don’t need to go to a gym or fitness center to do aerobic exercises.
Low-intensity aerobic exercise builds endurance (like strength, flexibility and balance), or the ability to perform activity for extended periods or move for long periods of time which is part of a well-balanced exercise regimen. It ranges heart rate around 60 to 70%.
Moderate-intensity aerobic work include workouts like step aerobics, brisk walking or jogging or playing doubles tennis. It ranges heart rate around 70 to 80%.
High-intensity aerobic workouts elevate the heart rate between 80 to 90%. For this, you might try spinning, faster running, climbing stairs, playing tennis or basketball.
There are many types of aerobic exercises that can be done at home, the most common includes burpees, cardio equipment, cycling, dancing (Zumba), high knees, jogging, jumping jacks, jumping rope, mountain climbers, rowing, running, step-up, lateral step-up, step touch, step kicks, stretching, swimming and walking.
Burpees start by standing up and squatting, placing your hands on the floor, followed by jumping your legs back into a plank position to do push-ups, then return your legs to your hands and jump up with your arms raised.
Cardio equipment includes machines that increase your heart rate while completing a repetitive motion. Some common types of cardio equipment includes a rowing machine, stair climbers, an elliptical and a treadmill.
Cycling can be done on a stationary bike or outside a regular bicycle. It involves pedaling to move the bike forward or maintaining a consistent pace on a stationary cycle. You can adjust the intensity of the workout by choosing a higher setting on a stationary bike or riding on a route with more hills or inclines.
It improves cardiovascular health, strengthens legs and core muscles, has a beneficial effect on joints, can be enjoyed as a social activity, ideal for arthritis or other conditions that affect joints as this activity helps your heart without putting too much pressure and stress on the back, hips, knees and ankles.
Dancing involves rhythmic performance to music where steady, non-stop dancing promotes cardiovascular health, increases heart rate, improves coordination and balance, burns calories, and provides enjoyment while having fun. Various forms of dancing include Zumba, hip-hop, salsa, and ballroom dancing.
Zumba, the popular fitness class based on Latin dance. It is a fun and effective aerobic workout that includes simple dance moves to upbeat music, cool-down and stretching exercises. It benefits heart health, improves coordination, tones your entire body and help relieve stress.
High knees involves running in place, bringing your knees as high as you can to hip height, stepping up with your right foot, then lifting your left knee to hip level followed by step down with your left foot, then your right foot. It helps to enhance balance, coordination and core strength.
Jogging is one of the most effective forms of aerobic exercise and is done outdoors or on a treadmill. It is faster than walking but slower than running. Jogging puts more stress on your joints than walking and is not recommended if you have an injury. It raises your heart rate, but it is not for a beginner. It improves heart health, burns fat and calories, increases leg strength and lift your mood.
Jumping jacks begin with your feet together and arms at your sides. In this workout you jump up, spread your legs and raise your arms high and then jump back to the starting position. It improves cardiovascular fitness, burn calories and increases overall endurance in less time.
Jumping the skipping rope is a great indoor or outdoor activity and involves standing with both feet on the middle of the rope and stretching the handles to your armpits, adapting to your height. It helps improve body awareness, hand-foot coordination and dexterity.
Mountain climbers start in a plank position where you bring one knee to your chest and quickly switch legs to simulate a running action while on a plank. It helps to increase the balance, coordination and core strength.
Rowing can be done on an ergometer or in the water by pulling a handle towards the torso while applying pressure to the leg to simulate a rowing motion. It provides a full-body workout and improves cardiovascular fitness, strengthens arm, back and leg muscles and offers low-impact joint impact exercise.
Running is one of the most effective forms of aerobic exercise. Choose a well-illuminated inhabited running routes and your pace should be conversational when running. You can alternate between 5 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking to start and always stretch after your run in order to stay injury-free. It can improve heart health, burn fat and calories and lift the mood.
Step-up begins with placing your foot onto a step and lifting your left foot to keep it next to your right foot, then step down with your right foot and bring down your left foot. Repeat this as if you are going up and down the stairs. It is an excellent technique for improving cardiovascular fitness, coordination and muscle strength (strengthens your legs and glutes).
Lateral step-up starts with standing sideways to the step and step up sideways with your right foot and then lift your left foot to meet it and then step down with your left foot followed by your right foot. Repeat it on the other side. It is an excellent technique to boost cardiovascular fitness, coordination and muscle strength (strengthens your legs and glutes).
Step touch means standing next to the step and step up with your right foot and tap your left foot against the step then step down with your left foot and right foot. Repeat on the opposite side. It is an excellent technique to boost cardiovascular fitness, coordination and balance.
In Step kicks step up with your right foot and kick your left foot forward, followed by step down your left foot and your right foot. Repeat on the opposite side. It increases heart rate, flexibility, elasticity and strengthen legs.
Stretching exercises can be done every day because they keep your muscles and tendons flexible, keep your posture and improve mobility especially during aging.
Swimming involves water exercises and offers an almost zero impact or no-impact or is a low-impact activity where you use your arms and legs to propel you through the water and the intensity of swimming increases more in open water than it does in a pool.
It involves many strokes (like freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly moves) and is a way to raise your heart rate and fit in aerobic activity. Water aerobics and water walking are good alternatives if you have joint pain.
The buoyancy provided by the water supports your body and eases stress on your joints. If you plan on swimming or participating in water activities, make sure you swim under the supervision of a lifeguard in case of an emergency. It helps to recover from an injury, improve limited mobility, tone your muscles, build strength and endurance.
Walking is one of the simplest, accessible and most available outdoors or indoors (malls, indoor tracks or a treadmill) aerobic exercise and you can change the intensity to match your fitness level. It is a good choice for starting your first exercise program. It only requires your two feet, a good pair of shoes and a place to go. Choose to walk in well-lit and populated areas. Everyday walking can reduce risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression.
For all the above aerobic exercises, it is important to follow three steps, a warmup period, progression of exercise and a cooldown period because during aerobic activities the large muscles of hands, legs and hips repeatedly moved and you will notice that you breathe faster and deeper. This maximizes the amount of oxygen in your blood. Your heart will beat faster increasing your blood flow to muscles and back to lungs.
The body’s small blood vessels and capillaries dilate to deliver more oxygen to the muscles and remove waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid and your body even releases endorphins, natural painkillers that promotes an increased sense of well-being.
There is no age barrier for aerobic exercises. Adults, children and seniors, regardless of your age, aerobic activities have numerous health benefits like:
1. Assist in weight loss management
2. Boost mood and energy
3. Builds stronger bones
4. Ease pregnancy aches and pains
5. Enhance cognitive performance
6. Improves balance, cholesterol levels, chronic pains, endurance, flexibility, growth and development, immune system, lung function, muscle strength, oxygen consumption, physical function, sleep and stamina
7. Increases intellectual function and lifespan
8. Manage blood sugar levels
9. Opportunity for social interaction
10.Reduce risks of anxiety, blood pressure, dementia, depression, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stress
The bottom line is that hectic lives and lack of exercise among working individuals are the root for multifaced problems in adulthood, but these tendencies can be countered with determination. Key challenge every adult must face and overcome in order to lead a healthy life is by adding more time to exercise and followed by a balanced diet.
Aerobic exercise is an important aspect of a vibrant healthy lifestyle and can provide people with a range of health benefits that can last a lifetime and pave the way for a more vibrant and healthy future. Not only does it improve cardiovascular health and performance, it can help build stronger bones, strengthen your muscles, improve your endurance, mood, sleep, increases your energy, extend your life and pave the way for a healthy society.
It is never too late to start exercising, but earlier one begins, more rewarding the outcomes are. Embrace exercise today, enjoy the myriad and countless benefits that will revive you, but first you should talk with your healthcare provider before you start an exercise program and ask what if there are any limitations you may have.
If you have diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, pulmonary conditions or other health conditions, you may need additional safety guidelines for exercise. The type of exercise you choose is a personal decision, but you should consider certain factors that will reduce the risk of injury or complications and make exercise more enjoyable and pleasant.
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