It is no secret that exercise is a key component to leading a healthy and vital life. There are basically two kinds of exercises that one can do and they are aerobics or cardiovascular training and weight training. Both are very important in order to stay strong and healthy. Aerobic exercise can be done in many different ways.

In fact, if you work at a job where you are on your feet and moving around a lot then you may not even need to do any additional exercise since your job provides you with the aerobic benefit. It is important to not exercise too much, even though this is not a common problem, exercise does put a certain level of stress on your body and if you overdo it you can easily become over trained which can lead to a depressed immune system which can lead to you becoming more likely to get sick.

It is not necessary to sweat significantly during your aerobic exercise sessions. A simple one hour walk outside if the weather permits or on a treadmill indoors can be sufficient. Running too much can put a lot of stress on your joints such as the knees and can lead to future joint problems so if you have to run do it only for short periods and take appropriate rest levels. Aerobic exercise helps to stimulate the lymphatic system which is partly responsible for the removal of toxins from inside your body thus this kind of exercise has is a great way to internally cleanse your body naturally.

If you find doing aerobic exercise to be very physically difficult then consider something like a recumbent exercise bike which is probably the most comfortable piece of aerobic exercise equipment you can purchase. It has very good back support and is gentle on the knees so you can start slow and work your way up as you get fitter and stronger. Also try to keep your heart rate around the 120 beats per minute range during your aerobic sessions.

Weight training is also a very important aspect of exercise that both males and females should perform regularly. Many females are concerned that if they train with weights they will become bulky and unattractive which is not true as long as you stick with lighter weights and do not take growth hormones. In fact, adding a little muscle will make you look firmer, sculpted and more attractive instead of being flabby. Weight training stimulates the growth and maintenance of muscle tissue which is critical for maintaining strength. Weight lifting also promotes greater bone density which can help to fight osteoporosis and it can also make you look and feel younger.

If you have never trained with weights before then it is a good idea to join a local gym and take a few personal training sessions to learn the basic exercises. The bench press is a great exercise for the upper body and the squat or leg press is ideal to train the lower body. If your time is really limited then just doing these two exercises once a week or even once every month depending on how much weight you lift (the more weight you lift the more rest you need) can be sufficient. Become stronger and healthier by doing these exercises regularly.

Aerobic training exercises are any activities which increase your heart rate by movement of the body. This includes walking, running, cycling, cross-country skiing, swimming, and interval training with weights. Aerobic exercise strengthens the cardiovascular system which is the heart, arteries, and veins.

Aerobic exercise also increases the efficiency of the respiratory system by improving the oxygen / CO2 exchange ability of the lungs. As a result, an aerobically fit individual can work longer, more vigorously, and achieve a quicker recovery. By working out longer and at a higher intensity, you will burn more calories for a longer period. This type of training leads to more weight loss in a shorter length of time.

What factors affect aerobic training? Frequency, duration and intensity directly influence an aerobic workout. Frequency refers to how often you perform aerobic activity. Duration refers to the time spent at each session. Intensity refers to the percentage of your maximum heart rate at which you work.

How often should I train? How hard? For how long? Most experts believe that 3-5 times per week for a period of 20-60 minutes at 60-90% of your age-specific maximal heart rate.

How do I determine my target heart rate? The general formula for the average person is to start with 220 minus your age, then multiply that number X 60% to get the lower-end of the target range and multiply it X 90% to get the maximum. For example, a 30-year-old would calculate his target zone using the above formula: 220-30=190. 190 x .6 = 114 and 190 x .9 = 171. This person would try to keep his or her heart rate between 114 (low end) and 171 (high end) beats per minute.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a Heart Rate Monitor, the Borg scale of Perceived Exertion is another way of determining how hard you are working. Using your own subjective Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) on a scale of 6-20 or a scale of 0-10, you determine how hard you “feel” you are working.

Original Borg Scale

6

7- Very, very light

8

9 – Very light

10

11 – Fairly light

12

13 – Somewhat hard

14

15 – Hard

16

17 – Very hard

18

19 – Very, very hard

20 -* Maximal

Revised Borg Scale

0 – Nothing at all

0.5 – Very, very weak

1 – Very weak

2 – Weak

3 – Moderate

4 – Somewhat strong

5 – Strong

6

7 – Very strong

8

9 – Very, very strong

10 – * Maximal

The “Talk Test” is another good way of establishing how hard you are working, if you find it difficult to say a few words, you are probably working out anaerobically. For a good indication of aerobic exercise, you should be able to say a few words, catch your breath, and then carry on talking. If you are talking all the way through your workout, it’s a good bet that you’re not working hard enough.

Add aerobic exercise to your training regimen and watch the pounds drop off quickly. These tips are just a portion of an eight-week class that I teach online called ‘The Answer’s Right Under Your Nose’. To find out more about it, go to the ‘Personal Coaching’ on my website.

Copyright (c) 2008 Ainsley Laing

As a trainer, I often get this question: don’t I need to do long duration aerobic training to burn fat? The answer is (drum roll please) both aerobic (low intensity) training and anaerobic (high intensity) training will do the trick. In fact, if you really want to burn fat, include BOTH in your routine.

Let’s look at why:

The word aerobic means in the presence of oxygen. Activities performed at low to moderate intensity for around 90 seconds allow oxygen to be used to generate energy for the muscles. An example of this would be brisk walking, slow running or, for us weight lifting aficionados, very low weight high repetition exercises.

Anaerobic activity is any activity where the body does not use oxygen to generate energy. The body uses different metabolic pathways (which I won’t bore you with the specifics here) to react to this activity. Anaerobic activities tend to be short duration, burst of activity things where the body just doesn’t have time to circulate oxygen to the muscles (less than 90 seconds). Sprints and very heavy low repetition weight lifting are examples of anaerobic exercises.

The benefits of aerobic activity:

Increased cardiovascular endurance
Decreased body fat

The liabilities are:

Decreased muscle mass
Decreased speed
Decreased power

Here’s the rub, when the body uses fat for energy it also breaks down muscle. Since muscle cells burn energy and fat cells store it, you need muscle to use energy that would otherwise be stored as fat!

Now, anaerobic training, the kind where you push yourself hard for short periods of time, uses a different metabolic system to supply the muscles with energy, which trains the body to respond in a different way to exercise.

The benefits of Anaerobic Training are:

Increased Cardiovascular Capacity
Increased Cardiovascular Recovery Ability
Strength Gains
Power Gains
Improved Speed
Decreased Body Fat

The liabilities:

Increased Risk of Injury in Untrained People
Requires a Good Aerobic Foundation

When we look at all of the elements of fitness, which include:

Endurance
Strength
Flexibility
Power
Speed
Agility
Balance

It’s easy to see why a combination of aerobic and aerobic training will do the most for your fitness level. And, since both aerobic and anaerobic training burn fat (anaerobic training actually yields the most post workout fat burning), the combining the two in your routine will burn fat and maintain muscle. Not only will you burn fat faster, you will keep the fat off and won’t be bored in the process!

Sources:
“Aerobic vs Anaerobic, What’s the Controversy About?” Eddie Lomax.
http://www.boeafitness.com/articles/exerciseandweighttraining/2006_01_10_4010.php
International Fitness Professionals Association, “Personal Fitness Training Manual”.

Aside from the light yoga which you can perform at home using an instructional DVD or family exercise, you may want to raise your yoga training onto a higher standard through advanced yoga. Advanced yoga techniques mainly emphasize on building up the body’s strength, endurance and balance. It will benefit those people with goals of enhancing the visual features and at the same time improving the capabilities of their body.

Though the advanced yoga technique seems to be a difficult task for a starter, the movements involved in performing this higher level of exercise can be easily done with proper concentration and discipline. To fully convince you to experience this elevated aerobic training, enumerated are the five good effects of practicing advanced yoga:

1. Regular practice of the movements involved in advanced yoga sessions effectively boosts the body’s stamina at the same time enhancing one’s vigor and flexibility.

2. Advanced yoga practices greatly help in reducing stress-related body problems and may completely prevent the practitioner from encountering any types of tension and uneasiness.

3. The techniques done in advanced yoga exercises can remove body toxins through a series of workouts using different asana postures.

4. The advanced yoga movements also enhance the practitioner’s memory and sense of awareness due to the concentration required in performing the complex positions.

5. Practicing advanced yoga exercises regularly improves the body’s posture and clears the body and mind from any kinds of stress and discomfort.

Adding Power to Your Yoga Exercise

There are several types of yoga postures which are considered part of the advanced yoga training. Most of these asana poses are under the classification of power yoga. Often called as athlete’s yoga, the advanced yoga drills involved in the power yoga consists of stretching calisthenics and muscle strengthening aerobics. These two types of exercises are integrated with meditative breathing to create advanced yoga techniques. Some of the activities done on the advanced yoga training include push-ups, hand stands, reaching toes with the tips of the fingers and side to side body flexing.

Other than the advanced yoga poses used on power yoga, the performance is done at a faster pace. The rapid succession of the techniques focuses on increasing the concentration and perspiration in doing the aerobic exercises. Moreover, the quickness implemented on the advanced yoga practice allows the practitioner to adapt with the progressing level of movements involved in power yoga. The advanced yoga program is composed of a series of exercises with gradually increasing difficulty. A meditative breathing exercise is included between each group of heavy exercise to contemplate the effects on the body.

The intensity of the exercises performed on the advanced yoga practice is becoming popular nowadays. Several types of advanced yoga techniques such as asthanga yoga and hatha yoga offers a wide variety of exercises which builds up the body’s strength, stamina and flexibility at the same time enhancing one’s mental and physical health.

Whether you are running, cycling, paddling, performing aerobics routines or using cardio machines, the traditional method for monitoring exercise intensity is to measure heart rate. For the purpose of general fitness improvement, this allows you to determine whether you are working within your aerobic training zone – the intensity that most effectively improves the cardiovascular system without becoming uncomfortable and causing premature fatigue.

However, few people are good at checking heart-rates: they either cannot find their pulse quickly enough to get an accurate reading, or they make any of a number of pulse-taking errors. Also, in order to take a pulse, exercisers generally have to slow down or stop which disrupts their workout.

The other option is to use a heart-rate monitor, but such equipment can be expensive and uncomfortable.

Fortunately, there is an easier, less expensive way to monitor exercise intensity – by simply listening to your breathing.

LOWER AEROBIC ZONE RANGE

You can determine the lower level of your aerobic training zone (that level of intensity is often called the aerobic threshold) by listening to your breathing – when it becomes audible, you have entered the aerobic training zone.

UPPER AEROBIC ZONE RANGE

When are you working too hard? When you are breathing so hard you can no longer carry on a conversation without gasping. This shows that you have passed out of your aerobic training zone and crossed the lactate threshold. You are now in the anaerobic training zone – a level of intensity that results in the buildup, in your bloodstream, of lactic acid and other fatigue-producing by-products of energy metabolism.

BREATHING STUDY

Robert Goode, a respiratory physiologist at the University of Toronto, has confirmed the effectiveness of using breathing to estimate exercise intensity. He performed a study in which 30 subjects pedaled stationary bicycles while heart rates and respiration levels were monitored.

Their heart rates were checked when they were first able to hear themselves breathing. He found that this point corresponded to the lower range of intensity for improving cardiovascular fitness (the aerobic threshold). Even better, this threshold changed depending on the age of the subject – a phenomenon that we know occurs as people age. For example, the aerobic threshold corresponded to about 110 beats per minute for a 65 year-old, and 150 beats per minute for a 20-year old.

Other studies have shown that the lactate threshold corresponds to the level of exercise intensity that causes you to gasp when breathing. The lactate threshold is upper range of the aerobic threshold.

CONCLUSION

If you want to exercise aerobically, work hard enough so you can hear your breathing, but not so hard that you cannot speak without gasping.

REFERENCES

1. Joe Taylor (Editor), Heavy breathing. Active Living, May 1997.

2. Phyllis Gorney Cooper (RN, MN), Editor, for the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, Aerobics: Theory and Practice, HDL Publishing, 1987.

3. Dick Moss, Editor, Physical Education Update, 2008.