Improving Aerobic Fitness Is A Goal For Most People, From Beginning Exercisers To Elite Athletes. Just A Few Of The Benefits Of Aerobic Fitness Are Lower Blood Pressure, Lower Cholesterol And Less Risk Of Obesity.

The best exercises for improving cardiovascular endurance are activities that elevate your heart rate and keep it elevated for a sustained period of time. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, these activities include fast-paced walking, running, cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing, jumping rope. By elevating your heart rate with exercise, you strengthen your heart, improve blood flow, burn fat and improve your body’s ability to deliver oxygen and energy to working muscles. These are the hallmarks of cardiovascular endurance.

 

Varieties of cardiovascular fitness exercises:

Indoor Cardio workouts:

  1. Elliptical trainer

  2. Indoor rower

  3. Treadmill

  4. Running

  5. Skipping

  6. Stair climbing.

Outdoor cardio workouts:

  1. Cycling

  2. Running
  3. Middle distance running
  4. walking
  5. Football
  6. Rugby
  7. Basketball
  8. Dance
  9. Rowing

  10. Table tennis.

 

Indoor or outdoor:

  1. Swimming
  2. Jumping rope
  3. Running
  4. Aerobics dance
  5. Water polo
  6. Zumba.

 

The Recognized Benefits Of Doing Regular Aerobic Exercise Are:

  1. Strengthening The Muscles Involved In Respiration, To Facilitate The Flow Of Air In And Out Of The Lungs Strengthening And Enlarging The heart Muscle, To Improve Its Pumping Efficiency And Reduce The Resting Heart Rate, Known As Aerobic Conditioning
  2. Improving Circulation Efficiency And Reducing Blood Pressure
  3. Increasing The Total Number Of Red Blood Cells In The Body, Facilitating Transport Of Oxygen
  4. Improved Mental Health, Including Reducing Stress And Lowering The Incidence Of Depression, As Well As Increased Cognitive Capacity.
  5. Reducing The Risk For Diabetes.

 

In addition to the health benefits of aerobic exercise, there are numerous performance benefits:

  1. Increased storage of energy molecules such as fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, allowing for increased endurance
  2. Neovascularization of the muscle sarcomeres to increase blood flow through the muscles
  3. Increasing speed at which aerobic metabolism is activated within muscles, allowing a greater portion of energy for intense exercise to be generated aerobically
  4. Improving the ability of muscles to use fats during exercise, preserving intramuscular glycogen
  5. Enhancing the speed at which muscles recover from high intensity exerciseSome downfalls of aerobic exercise include:
  6. Overuse injuries because of repetitive, high-impact exercise such as distance running.
  7. Is not an effective approach to building muscle.
  8. Only effective for fat loss when used consistently.

Aerobic capacity describes the functional capacity of the cardiorespiratory system, (the heart, lungs and blood vessels). Aerobic capacity refers to the maximum amount of oxygen consumed by the body during intense exercises.

Frequency:

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. When starting an exercise program, you should start out slowly and gradually add in more days as you become stronger. For most people, doing 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three times per week is a good place to start. When three days feels manageable, add in a fourth day and continue until you are able to exercise five to six days per week.

Intensity:

To improve aerobic fitness, exercise intensity needs to be between 70 and 85 percent of your target heart rate. In order to calculate your target heart rate, you must first determine your maximum heart rate, which is 220 minus your age in years. Then multiply that number by 0.70 to determine the lower limit of your target heart rate and by 0.85 to determine the upper limit. When you start out you should try to keep your heart rate at the lower end of your target heart rate range, but as you get more fit, you should work to increase it to the upper limit.

 

220-Age= Maximum Heart Rate.