Tag Archives: Aerobic exercise

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Aerobic Training: How Doing It Properly Can Improve Health

Aerobic In The City

Aerobic In The City (Photo credit: MR MARK BEK)

A lot of people nowadays are using various medications and going on crash diets to lose some unwanted pounds and improve their health. Because of this phenomenon, the benefits of aerobic exercises have been overlooked. Two of the more famous forms of aerobic exercise are running and jogging. Doing these activities lead to improved physical appearance, healthier heart, and elevated moods.

The primary benefit of this kind of exercise is a healthy heart. The human body responds to the increased need for oxygen that comes with running or jogging. As aerobic exercise takes place, the circulatory system responds by pushing itself harder which prompts the heart to beat faster. Just like other muscles in the body that receives a healthy dose of workout, the heart becomes stronger with regular aerobic training. A stronger heart pumps blood more efficiently and improve blood flow to many parts if the body. Because of a healthy heart, climbing stairs can be a breeze and walking or running long distances may less difficult. One’s body therefore becomes more efficient in handling everyday tasks that can be encountered.

Like other physical activities, regular aerobic training can give a healthier looking body to individuals who engage in them. For people who workout regularly, the muscles become more toned and lean because fat is burned off. In addition to these physical improvements, greater muscle density contributes to bone strength and reduce the risk of breaking bones as one gets older.

Medical studies also add that moderate or intense physical activities may prompt the body to produce substances called endorphins. These substances are produced by the brain that may elevate one’s mood and eliminate feelings of stress and anxiety. This effect is called by many health experts as the runner’s high.î

However, individuals who want to engage in aerobic training should consult health professionals or train with a professional instructor. Because improper or too much training may do more harm than good. Extreme exercise may increase the production of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These hormones aid the body in switching to a more efficient fat-burning metabolism to preserve glycogen in the muscles and aid blood vessels in the delivery of oxygen to the muscles. However, stress overload can occur if an individuals does not dial down the intensity even for short periods. This may cause an increase in white blood cells that eliminate bacteria, viruses, and even cancer cells. When the intense exercise is finished, the number of immune cells may decrease. It is theorized that any viruses or bacteria present in this stage may multiply and cause infection which may weaken the immune system.

Aerobic training and other physical activities should be done properly to avoid ill-effects that improper or over-training may bring. Individuals who want to engage in such activities can begin aerobic training by walking or jogging five minutes in the morning and another five minutes the evening. The next they can add a few minutes to each aerobic session. Soon, they could be walking briskly or jogging for 30 minutes a day and reap the benefits of regular aerobic exercise.

 

 

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Anaerobic verses Aerobic Activity

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The term aerobic means “with oxygen.” During an aerobic activity , the cardiovascular system, which includes the heart, lungs and blood vessels, responds to physical activity by increasing the oxygen that is available to the body’s working muscles. Aerobic activity involves an exercise routine that uses large muscle groups, is maintained for a long periods and is rhythmic in nature. Regular aerobic activity improves your fitness as your heart becomes stronger and begins to work better. The result is that the heart can pump more blood (thus increasing oxygen delivery to the tissues) with each heartbeat. As your aerobic fitness increases, you can work out longer with greater intensity and recover quicker at the end of the session. Aerobic activity is often coined either High Impact or Low Impact. High-impact aerobic activity includes actions that take both feet off the floor, thus causing more jarring of the joints when the body weight hits the floor again. An example of Low Impact is walking while High Impact is jogging or jumping up and down.

It is important to start at a low intensity and increase this over the following few weeks as the exercise feels easier. For example, 20 minutes of walking, jogging or a combination of walking/jogging may be sufficient to leave you rather breathless and fairly tired at the start of your program, but as the weeks go by, you may need to increase the pace or introduce jogging up some shallow hills to achieve a further increase in fitness. Remind that the heart works better when it is strong. Because the heart is a muscle, it can be made stronger with regular physical activity or aerobic activity. Explain that there are two types of exercise: aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic activities use the arm and leg muscles and give the heart (and lungs) a continuous workout. Anaerobic activities build and tone muscles but are not as beneficial to the heart and lungs as aerobic activities.

Some of the best forms of aerobic activity are the traditional sports. If you get together and play basketball twice a week with friends, this alone might be enough to keep you fit and healthy. The important thing is to get some kind of aerobic activity, and to make it something that you enjoy enough to keep with it. Some people should consult their doctor before they start a vigorous aerobic activity program. The best advice I have is to join a gym for a month. This will let you try out lots of different aerobic exercises and find out which ones you like.

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Being Thin and Being Lean: Is There a Difference?

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CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS

Often people will look at a thin person and think to themselves; now that person is nice and lean. But is that really always the case? Does being thin have a direct relationship with being lean? In order to answer these questions we must examine what it means to be thin versus what it means to be lean.

Now you can define being thin as having a small circumference size. This would be denoted by small waist, arm, leg, and chest diameters as well as a low body weight all in relation to overall height.

The definition of being lean however is measured by overall body composition. This would be denoted by a low percentage of body-fat verses percentage of lean mass (muscle and bone). You may be surprised to know that thin people quite often are not lean at all. In fact, many thin people have a much higher body-fat percentage than you might think!

Now you may be thinking; how is that possible? Thin people don’t look fat so how can they have much body-fat? Consider this example:

Two women at 40 years old are both 5′ 7″ tall and both weigh 120 pounds. Women # 1 has a body-fat percentage of 25 and a waist size of 30. Woman # 2 on the other hand has a body-fat percentage of 16 and a waist size of 27. Both look thin, but woman # 2 is clearly leaner. What could be the cause of this? Why could both women be the same age, height, and weight but one is so much leaner than the other?

Atrophy is the term used for the natural loss of muscle that begins to occur in people at around the age of 25 who are sedentary or do no resistance training or strength training. By the time a person reaches their mid to late thirties a significant amount of muscle can be lost if no resistance training is being done.

Once atrophy begins, 1/2 to 1 pound of muscle is lost per year and is replaced by nearly 2 pounds of fat because as muscle which is metabolically active tissue is lost, metabolism slows down allowing for extra fat storage. This translates to up to 10 to 15 pounds of lost muscle and up to 20 to 30 pounds of extra fat by age 40. So if a person does no form of resistance training it is likely that by age 40 even though they appear thin they will have a higher percentage of body-fat than meets the eye.

Resistance training is often omitted by people, even those who do exercise for general health. Many people will walk, jog, and bike for fitness but resistance training is just as important because aerobic exercise will develop little to no muscle. Indeed resistance training is a recommended activity for anyone looking to induce healthy living.

Nowadays even many cardiologists are prescribing resistance training for their heart patients because when the skeletal muscles and strengthened, the heart experiences less stress during normal daily activities like grocery shopping or vacuuming the carpets.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends resistance training 2 to 3 times a week for all apparently healthy people, especially adults. If you need help putting together a resistance training program you can seek out the assistance of a qualified fitness trainer or even check out books on the subject from your local library free of charge to get you on your way.

Remember that just because a person is thin does not mean they are lean. While being overweight is a determining factor in accessing risks to your health, so is carrying higher percentages of body-fat so don’t just aim to be thin, aim to be lean.

 

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Aerobic Benefits and History

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aerobic Benefit:

The word aerobics means with oxygen. Researchers consistently recommend that regular physical activity with healthy eating habits is the most efficient way to keep yourself fit and control your body weight. Aerobic activity helps you to control or reduce your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. Everything you do uses the calories including sleeping, digesting food and breathing. Any physical activity to what you normally do will use extra calories. So doing regular aerobic exercise gives you a sense of positive attitude that helps to counteract stress. Aerobic activity increases the body’s production of endorphins.

Benefits of aerobics:
* The heart works more efficient and becomes more stronger.
* It helps to control your weight.
* Reduces the risk in developing diabetes, obesity and any heart disease.
* There is an increase in good cholesterol and decrease in bad cholesterol.
* It increases endorphins.
* Increases the body’s ability to take in oxygen and makes you breathe faster.
* It helps to reduce and control the body fat.
* Improves the body muscle strength and flexibility.
* Improves the quality of sleep that freshens you early next morning.
* Helps to avoid chronic diseases like heart disease and hypertension.
* Aerobics increases the resistance fatigue and gives you more energy.
* Improves your mood and reduces depression, stress and anxiety.
* It avoids overheating.
* Aerobics pumps the blood faster and more forcefully.
* Helps in prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
* Builds the muscular strength and makes your body more flexible.
* Helps to reduce blood pressure.
* Prevents from certain types of cancer also.
In short aerobics burns your fat. Aerobics makes you live longer and live healthier and happier.
It builds up a positive attitude in you and changes your perception of looking towards life.

Regular aerobic exercises will force the heart to gradually enlarge and it is important to always target your heart rate.

Here safety is first:
Vigorous aerobic routine can cause sprains and injuries. So never neglect the pain and immediately consult your doctor. If you have any medical concerns the consult your doctor and then start the routine. If a problem like dizziness, vomiting, back pain or any other arises consult your doctor and then continue the aerobic activity.
Aerobic history: origin of the way ending in a fit and healthy world

Aerobics is nothing but a system of exercises to help prevent coronary artery diseases which was first put forwarded by a physician called Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper in San Antonio air force hospital in Texas. Shortly after the publishing of coopers book about the exercise system, Aerobics in 1968, a person known as Jackie Sorenson developed a series of dance routines known as the aerobic dance to considerably improve the cardiovascular fitness. In this way aerobic dance and other form of exercises gain existence and made its way cautiously among the masses all over United States and many other counties and that too in a very short span of around two decades. The number of aerobics participant in the US alone raises from an estimated 6 million in 1978 to 19 million in 1987. Thus from the above lines one can easily see the tremendous popularity of aerobics among the people around the world.

Something about sport aerobics

Howard and Karen Schwartz are the two persons who developed a very new and competitive sport known as sport aerobics in the year 1983. Their group organization called the sport fitness international holds the credit of organizing the first national aerobic championship in the year 1984. Sporta aerobics at the beginning, started featuring competition in four categories namely individual male and female, mixed pairs and trio which have the facility to include any of the three athletes. In the year 2002 the competition was upgraded to a group of six athletes. The judgment of the competitors is done on a one minute, forty-five seconds routine done to music. Judges choose two criteria namely the artistic merit and the technical merit with an overall 10 pints each. In 1996 sport aerobics is formally adopted as a Gymnastique discipline.

Growth of aerobics since the early years

Aerobics since the day of its introduction is growing at a tedious pace. All sorts of people are finding aerobics to be convenient and helpful in maintaining a fit and healthy body structure. Today the present scenario is such that every person in between a heavy work schedule makes out at least half an hour to work out either in the gym or in the home. Every one today stress on the need to stay healthy and hence aerobics and all its form of exercises are rapidly gaining popularity.

 

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Weight Loss Methods to Help You Shed 10 Pounds in Two Weeks

More weight loss help click here.

More weight loss help click here.

Weight loss especially if you are overweight can be extremely hard to achieve. There are the uncontrollable cravings and the lack of determination to achieve a weight goal. These and more factors play important roles in successful weight loss. What makes weight loss harder is setting unrealistic goals. If you desire to lose pounds in a matter of days, you should be prepared to handle the pressure. Sometimes to shed extra 10 pounds in two weeks or even every one and a half weeks is a healthier and easier choice.

This is true to those who find it extremely hard to lose weight. Obesity is a major problem of our society and it is a never-ending battle to those who suffer from it. That is why moderation and proper adaptation to a diet and exercise regimen is important.

Aerobics and Cardio Exercises

Losing weight involves several kinds of exercise regimens. So much so that intensive aerobics exercise and other kinds of cardio training are important. Deciding to lose weight requires determination and especially dedication. Enrolling in a gym program that offers aerobics classes should be the first step in your weight loss program.

On the other hand, it is sometimes hard to dedicate yourself in such a program. What you can do is to try working out on your own. Simply by walking everyday for three hours can help you lose weight. Then, gradually increase the intensity of your cardio workout by changing it to running or even swimming.

Strength Training Programs

Aside from aerobics exercises, strength training is also important. Be sure to couple your daily cardio training with intensive strength training. These kinds of exercises require you to build lean muscles, which is helpful in burning calories. Weight lifting as well as stretching and crunches can easily help you build the type of body you want.

Detox Dieting

Detox dieting is a diet that is not only helpful in managing your weight but in cleansing your body as well. Detox dieting is continuously becoming popular due to its effectiveness. Detoxifying your body is very easy. This type of diet only requires you to always drink a mixture of lemon juice, honey, ginger and water everyday.

However, detox dieting should only be done during the first few days of your weight loss journey. It is not in any way should be maintained or even prolonged. This is because detox dieting is only used to help your body clean and condition itself for the coming intense weight management.

Eating Healthy

Combining exercise with a healthy diet is an age-old truth in the issue of weight loss. Time and time again, experts always suggest everyone to eat healthy. Just how can you consider your eating habits healthy? Incorporating plenty of fruits and vegetables in your meal is important. Your plate should be filled with 75% vegetables and an even distribution of fruits and lean meats for the rest.

Eating less during dinner can also help your body digest excess fat effectively before you go to bed. If you really want to shed extra 10 pounds in two weeks, another important matter you must remember is to eat breakfast. This is still the most important meal of the day and effective in providing the energy you need to face the day ahead.

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How to get back in shape

Gym at Work 3

Gym at Work 3 (Photo credit: The Killer Biscuit)

 

Before starting to work out make sure you get a full physical from your doctor and a letter stating it is ok for you to do physical activity. Many gym and aerobic centers will require this before letting you start.

Depending on how long it has been since you last did regular exercise it is recommended that you start off slow and gradually build up your workout to harder levels.

It is generally recommended to start off at the gym with just the treadmill and the lifecycle for the first week or 2. This is to wake the muscles up and to slowly get you prepared for a harder workout.

You will generally want to find a speed on the treadmill that is a pace you can keep up with little discomfort and do it for 20 minutes. After this take a 5 minute break, stretch a little and have a drink of water, then go back and increase the speed just a bit then do another 20.

Remember that pushing yourself too far is taking a gamble that you may not be able to live with. In a casino you can put everything you have on the roulette table and maybe you win and maybe you lose, but in the gym if you push too hard you can die, so take things slowly.

Many people make the mistake of getting back into an exercise program and going all gung ho and trying to get back in shape in just one hour, well let me tell you this will not work. The only thing this will do is make you very sore the next day and you will not be able to workout that day, and it will make you lose interest fast in the gym. Discomfort in ok pain is not.

Depending on how long it has been since you last worked out, I recommend working out 4 or 5 days a week. This may seem like a lot but if you were trying to win a poker tournament you would go to a casino or an online casino and poker room to practice almost every day right? So you will have to do the same with the gym.

Working out 5 days a week does not necessarily mean you have to go to the gym every day. I recommend the gym 3 times a week and the other day or 2 you can just go for a long fast paced walk around your neighborhood. Try to vary the things you do so that you do not work out the same parts of your body 2 days in a row.

Most professionals will tell you that if you work out your arms and chest on a Monday do not exercise those muscles again for at least 48 hours. This is to give the muscles time to heal and grow. It is this straining and resting of the muscle that makes it grow not just the working it out. If all you did every day was work the same muscle group in a few days the muscle would be more likely to tear in a painful experience and the only thing you will be able to do for several months will be playing in an online casino from your laptop in bed.

 

 

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Surfing: Exercises To Keep You in Shape for Riding Those Waves

English: Mavericks Surf Contest 2010. Français...

English: Mavericks Surf Contest 2010. Français : Édition 2010 du concours de surf de Mavericks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a surfer, you know that physical fitness aspect can affect the way you surf. Basically, it will affect your wave count as a surfer. If you noticed that you are catching fewer waves that what you were used to before when you were younger and fitter, then it only means that you are getting out of shape. Maybe it’s all those late night parties you had with other surfing buddies after a day of great surfing? Or, maybe you just got lazy to exercise?

Whatever it is, you have to remember that physical fitness is always important if you are a surfer. So, what should you do to get back in shape? Well, the answer would be to exercise. However, you need to remember that before you start a new exercise routine, you need to first assess your current fitness level. You should also start out slow in order to avoid injuries which will prevent you from surfing altogether.

First of all, you need to remember that the exercise program you do should be tailored to surfing. This means that you shouldn’t do bodybuilding exercises or bulk up. What you need is to be fit enough and stay in shape in order for you to catch more waves. Going through a bodybuilding program will only result in having a stiff body, which is definitely a no-no for surfers.

As a surfer, you need to go for a program that has a good mix of cardio exercises, strength training, stretching, and plyometrics.

For strength training, all you need is 6 types of exercises with 2 sets and 15 repetitions for each set. Cable trainers are great but free weights can also work. Do exercises that will target your abs, chest, legs, arms, and back. With stronger body frame, the more you will be able to handle difficult waves.

Plyometrics will be able to provide you explosive bursts of energy which is what you need if you are a surfer. Exercises will include leapfrogging across the floor, jumping squats, and indoor rock climbing. You can try practicing surfing pop-ups over and over again as this is a good plyometrics exercise.

Cardio is a very important type of training for surfers. Always remember that surfing is all about stamina and cardio exercises can give you more stamina. You have to remember that surfing will involve long stretches of paddling as well as long distance swimming. Using a treadmill is a great way to develop your stamina. And, another fantastic cardio training is swimming. You can also use an elliptical trainer.

Also, you need to remember that flexibility is important in surfing. It will also help avoid injuries. For this, you can take yoga classes. Or, you can simply do stretching exercises before and after you workout. It is also recommended that you should do stretching exercises before you hit the water to surf. This will make you more flexible and also prepare your body for a brutal beating which is exercise.

Being physically fit is very important if you are a surfer. Whenever you workout, you have to monitor your performance level. If you do everything right, you will be able to catch more waves and you will also be able to have a more satisfying surfing experience.

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Weight Loss Tips That Will Help You Beat the Bulge

Whether you wish to shed just a few pounds or lose from 20 to 30 pounds, weight loss tips can make dieting, exercise, and the whole weight loss venture easier and safer for you. But remember that weight loss tips is not meant to be the only tool you can use, your effort is actually the key factor to a fast track weight loss. That being said, here are a few tips you can commit to:

Proper Diet

In contrast to popular belief, diet is not mainly concentrated on losing weight instead it is also essential for maintaining an overall healthy you. Diet is usually defined as eating a controlled amount of certain food to regulate weight. Some people are on a diet to lose weight while many go on a diet to gain weight usually in the form of muscles. Proper diet starts with getting rid of foods that are not beneficial to the body. Cut back on fats, alcohol, and the intake of abusive drugs. Next, consult your doctor to find a diet that fits your need.

Drink Water

What better way to quench thirst than drinking a glass or more of water? Forget the frizzy drinks, sweetened fruit beverages, milkshakes, and iced teas. Compared to other drinks, water has no calories and cools your body. Drink 12-16 ounces of water every meal and bring along a bottle of water when you are on the go. If you like, you can squeeze fresh lemon for a zesty taste. This may be one of the simplest weight loss tip you can commit to, drink water and flush those unwanted fats from your body.

Exercise

Here is where hard work is really demanded. Though some people live hectic lives and the even the thought of exercising makes their body ache, exercise is a great loss weight tip to both lose weight and maintain a healthy body. Those who have very demanding jobs can still exercise in their own simple ways. A daily walk to the office or from the office to your home instead of driving your car is already a form of exercise. How about taking the stairs instead of the elevator? If you have time to spare, take Aerobic exercises or do other physical activities that require more body movements. The more effort you exert the more weight you lose.

Weight loss is achievable with will power, proper diet, water intake, and exercise. Follow these simple weight loss tips and benefit from them.

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