Aerobics conditions your heart and lungs
and helps to control weight and reduce stress.
Doing aerobics regularly can decisively improve your heart rate,
you body condition, and your state of mind. Over 20 years of research has shown that aerobic exercise is one of the
best exercises you can do since it is a safe and complete work out, as well as a fun sport to do.
Aerobics conditions your heart and lungs, help you use oxygen more
efficiently and help control weight and reduce stress. A regular aerobics program gives you a sense of
responsibility and the assurance of being in control of your body, which are two positive mental attitudes that are
necessary to help reduce stress.
Aerobics helps relax tense muscles, and a regular aerobics activity
increases the body's production of endorphins (a natural sedative) and catecholamines (chemical substances that
help stabilize moods). So, aerobics can makes you feel happy.
So, What is Aerobic?
"Aerobic" means literally "with oxygen" in opposition to
"anaerobic," which means without or with little oxygen. In order to understand what aerobic and anaerobic systems
do in the human body, we must explain first what role they play during exercising.
There are three energy systems in the body that provide the muscles
with enough energy to do any physical activity. There are two anaerobic systems and one aerobic system. The
anaerobic systems are used for high intensity exercise.
One is used by the body for fast and quick physical bursts
sustained no more than 15 to 20 seconds: sprinting, jumping, throwing, kicking,and lifting heavy weights. It has
the capacity to deliver energy immediately since it relies entirely on chemical sources of fuel.
The second anaerobic system relies on glucose, the usable form of
carbohydrates in the body. It provides energy for types of exercise that result in tiredness after 45 to 90 seconds
of activity. Shorter, more intense exercises would rely on the first anaerobic system.
The third system of energy is the aerobic energy system (AES). The
word "aerobic" means that your body is using oxygen to supply energy required for low to moderate intensity
physical activities that are constant, such as biking, jogging, skiing, dance aerobic, or brisk
walking.
Think... When you are running, you have to inhale oxygen from the
air constantly, don't you? This oxygen passes through your blood and reaches the muscles. Of course, this process
takes some time. On the contrary, anaerobic exercise uses up what is available as fast as
possible.
The body's aerobic system works like an old water pump. In order to
see the water reaching the surface, you need to start the pump a number of times with moderate force until you can
reach the necessary result. Aerobic exercise plays the same role in your body; it pumps the fat from deep inside
your body.
There are three kinds of fuel used during an aerobic
activity:
- carbohydrates (become the principal source of fuel whenever the physical
activity is high in intensity, i.e., over 85% of maximum heart rate, which only athletes usually
reach),
- fat (used by the body during a prolonged work out, the one the majority of
people use),
- proteins (do not provide more than 10 to 15% of the total energy required
during the activity).
Knowing that, we clearly see that the power of the aerobic system depends on the
maximum rate at which the body can transport and consume oxygen. Therefore, an aerobic exercise helps you to use
oxygen more efficiently by reaching and maintaining your Target Heart Range (THR), i.e., a safe range of heart
beats per minute during exercise because it is the heart that pumps the blood.
Aerobics activities should be performed for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes, at
least 3 times a week to maintain a good body condition, more often in order to burn fat.
www.suite101.com
|