All about Yoga

It wasn’t so long ago that exercising was a necessary evil. The benefits of exercising were known, but it was difficult to get motivated. In large part, this lack of motivation was due to the boredom of exercise routines that were available. Often the only exercise options that were available were biking, walking, use of the treadmill, jogging, weightlifting, etc.

Then it seemed that fitness centers became popular. Often the fitness centers would try to incorporate entertainment such as television viewing or the availability of personal trainers. These features and services were designed to make exercising more popular and motivate the individual to develop a daily routine.

Today, there is an exercise regimen that not only makes it fun to exercise, but also provides an excellent aerobic exercise workout. This exciting new program is a dancing aerobics exercise routine.

History Of The Aerobics Exercise Routine

The aerobics routine has evolved from the original dance oriented exercise programs of the 1980’s. These earlier exercise programs, that incorporated dance movements, were comprised of dance routines that were often complicated. In addition, these routines utilized movements that were fluid in motion and did not necessarily provide much in the way of physical benefits.

In contrast, the dancing aerobics routine of today is comprised of minimal dance steps and the movements are more athletic in nature. This shift in focus has made the dance aerobics exercise routine more popular today. In fact, because of the athleticism involved, the popularity of the aerobics exercise routine has spilled over into the professional athletic arena.

Popularity

The popularity of the dance aerobics exercise routine has increased due to many factors. One of these factors is the music that is typically part of the program. This music has a very strong beat and is uplifting. These factors blend together to motivate the participant to perform the aerobics exercise routine as well as looking forward to each session. These two resulting benefits are the keys to the success of any exercise program.

Stages Of The Routine

There are three different stages that can be part of an aerobics exercise routine. In particular they are the low and high impact type or a combination of the two types.

The low impact type is designed to lesson the stress placed on the lower extremities and feet. Specifically, the steps are designed so that either one of the feet remains in contact with the ground at all times. Through this process the likelihood of injuries such as shin splints are minimized. However, being of the low impact type, the aerobics exercise routine is not as vigorous and therefore does not increase the heart level to the optimum rate.

A high impact aerobics exercise routine is the exact opposite. This routine seldom calls for any movements that require one foot to remain on the ground. In addition, these routines are very aggressive and increase the heart rate so that a maximum aerobic workout is achieved. The caution in doing a high-impact aerobics exercise routine is the possibility of being injured. Injury may result from the impact experienced when the feet hit the surfaces of the exercise area. This risk can be minimized through the use of good aerobic footwear as well as exercising on specially designed floors that absorb the shock.

The best aerobics exercise routine to participate in is that routine that combines the high impact and the low impact exercises. This combination of impact exercises is the most popular as it combines a warm up period for the participant performing the low impact exercise and then increases the heart rate through the high impact routine.

One of the questions I have been repeatedly asked by those new to aerobic exercise is how to tell if they are getting the most from their efforts. They are unsure if they are at the ‘right’ heart rate to get the most effective aerobic benefits.

First, a brief explanation of what ‘aerobic’ exercise is and why it is so important to your health. Your body converts food into energy by two very different forms of metabolism. Aerobic – with oxygen, and anaerobic – without oxygen.

Anaerobic metabolism is the creation of energy through the burning of carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. This happens when the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the blood to keep up with the demands from the muscles.

Anaerobic metabolism is most generally associated with short, very intense, forms of exercise, mostly with weight training or sprinting. Anaerobic metabolism is crucial to increasing muscle mass. This why you will hear from weight lifters that they do very little, if any, aerobic types of exercise.

The biology of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism is very complex and with very little research you can quickly become lost in the complexity without a degree in biology.

I am going to simplify this complex process as the vast number of people who are interested in improving their health are not necessarily interested in becoming biologists.

The primary fuels used by the body for energy are glucose and fatty acids, with protein used when the first two are depleted. The first two are burned by the body aerobically during most of our normal activity, including moderate exercise. When the activity intensity reaches approximately 80% of the maximum possible the body switches to anaerobic metabolism.

Aerobic metabolism is very efficient and produces few negative byproducts. This is not true of anaerobic metabolism which produces lactic acid which causes muscle pain and is the reason our muscles ‘burn’ after intensive weight training.

Aerobic metabolism is like burning natural gas, clean hot flame with little waste.

Anaerobic exercise is like burning old tires, with lots of thick sooty smoke. Which one do you think is better for your body?

As long as you can breath without gasping for air you are burning your fuel aerobically. There are different formulas for figuring out your ‘correct’ aerobic threshold. Look on the wall of most gyms and you will see one of these formulas on a chart comparing age with intensity.

These charts are clinical formulas based on countless measurements of people exercising at different rates to come up with an average. These numbers are good as a general indicator, especially when first beginning your exercise program.

Far more accurate is your own personal aerobic threshold and you can figure this out fairly easily. Your own personal number is the heartbeat you have when you first become breathless…when you can no longer tell someone your name without gasping for breath.

This is the level that you will get the most benefit from your efforts. Keep your heart rate a few beats per minute below the point where you are beginning to gasp for breath. You need to maintain this level for a minimum of 15 minutes to attain the benefits of aerobic exercise.

Clinical studies have shown that doing aerobic exercise at least 3 or 4 time a week will increase the left ventricle- the chamber of the heart that pumps the freshly oxygenated blood into the body – by 15% to 20%. It will do this in four to six weeks!

As you continue to train your body you will be able to do more work, or go longer without exceeding your aerobic threshold. This very positive feedback will be helpful in keeping your commitment to stay with your program. You will have proof that your efforts are having a positive effect.

Another very important benefit of aerobic exercise is that when you have substantially raised your heartbeat you are moving a lot of blood through the body. This improves the nutrient flow to the cells and helps to get rid of waste materials that accumulate during normal cell function.

It also helps to move hormones and other necessary complex chemicals produced by some cells for the benefit of other cells located throughout the body. The cardio-vascular system, and its health, is the single most important factor in your good health.

Aerobics is known to be vital in pepping up cardio-vascular capacity. This means that it amply strengthens the cardiac muscle, lowers hypertension and decreases level of bad cholesterol. It further increases stamina by encouraging more oxygen into the body cells. It also lets the lungs bask in oxygen, even above the vital lung capacity. Overall, aerobics are a pleasant mantra to remain fit….

There is no doubt that most any form of aerobic exercise offers some benefits such as better circulation, improved respiration, better muscle tone and a feeling of well being. However most people are doing aerobic exercise for weight loss.

Everyday, it seems, we hear of some new truths, which may contradict what we have always accepted about a certain element of health and fitness. This can be related to the amount of minerals or vitamins you should or should not consume, the amount of exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, you should have and so on.

Every person out there wants to get his or her body in shape fast. There are several ways to get your body in shape and lose some weight but nothing comes close to aerobics. Aerobics is one of the best and the fastest possible ways to lose weight real fast and burn calories like crazy. Read on to discover some of the most effective aerobic exercises which would help you lose weight real fast…

A good aerobic exercise program can help you live a longer, healthier life and enhance your well being. You get a multitude of benefits if you do your aerobic workout on a regular basis even if the intensity is low or short in duration. It’s fun to keep a log of your workouts that track your progress to see how far you have come in your pursuit of fitness.

Brisk walking- This is another great aerobic exercise which makes you lose weight like anything. All of us walk but there is a way of walking. You see brisk walking burn calories twice as hard and helps you lose weight rapidly. But you might complain that you don’t have the time to walk, in this case the best possible option is to stop driving to the nearest mall or the grocery store. Instead of driving have a brisk walk.

Cycling- Another great way of burning fat fast is to use a cycle. It can be a stationary or a regular bike. The good thing about cycling is that it does not strain the whole body and joints much but at the same time it provides you with a very intense workout which would help you shed a lot of weight real fast.

Climbing stairs- This is yet another very effective aerobic exercise which always gets you results. The good part is that you can do it even when you don’t have much time in your hands. We come across stairs almost everyday doesn’t matter if we are at home, work or some other place. Make sure you climb up two stairs at a time instead of one as that would lead to more intensity and more calories burning in the process which would help you lose weight.

Aerobic Exercise

This refers to a particular form of exercise which can either help or even improve the consumption of oxygen by the body. The word Aerobic means “an association with oxygen”, and involves the use of oxygen in the body’s metabolic process by which energy is generated.

In general, Aerobic exercises are associated with a level of exertion that tends to be low, and over longer periods of time. A warm up period should precede any aerobic session for best results. This should then be followed by 15-20 minutes of either moderate or ranging through to intense exercise which utilises large muscle groups. The session would end with a short period of cooling down.

Historical Development

The concept of aerobic exercise was developed by Dr Cooper, an exercise physiologist, and Col. Potts, a physical therapist, both of the United States Air Force. Dr. Cooper, who was himself a keen exercise enthusiast, could not understand why some people with excellent muscular strength were still unable to give good performances with tasks such as long-distance running, swimming, and cycling.

In order to measure the work done by the exerciser, he used a bicycle ergometer, which consists of a stationary bicycle fitted with a system of measuring the amount of energy expended. He began by measuring the performance achieved using this apparatus in terms of an individual’s ability to use oxygen. The results of his work, which were published in 1968, included different types of exercise programmes.

Around that time in the US, there was growing concern, in certain quarters, at the increasing weakness and inactivity in the general population, coupled with a lack of suitable exercise. His research results became the yardstick for most aerobics exercise programmes which are focused on an individual’s oxygen-consumption.

Comparison

When a high level of activity is achieved, sugars are converted into energy and it is this process that forms the basis of anaerobic exercise. This type of exercise is helpful for athletes to generate power when they are involved in non-endurance sports. It is also used by body builders to build up muscle mass. Muscles trained under such conditions develop in a different way. Such exercise can help performance over short periods of time.

Conversely, Aerobic exercise involves less intense activities over a longer time periods. Examples of such activities include cycling, swimming, running and walking. In each case, a huge volume of oxygen is needed in order to generate the required amount of energy needed for exercise over such prolonged periods.

Weight training and strength training are good examples of Anaerobic exercise.

These two forms of exercise differ not only in terms of the time involved and level of intensity of the muscular contractions involved, but also by the way in which the energy is produced within the muscle itself.

During Aerobic exercise, glucose is broken down, using oxygen within the bloodstream, to generate energy. In the absence of these carbohydrates, such as glucose, fat is produced instead. Fat lowers an individual’s level of performance since it takes a long time for it to be formed.

Conversely, Anaerobic exercise relates to the initial warm-up exercise, or to any short burst of intense exertion, in which the glycogen is consumed without oxygen, and is a far less efficient process.

Aerobics – How To Succeed

Peter Radford writes Articles with Websites on a range of subjects. Aerobics Articles cover Background, History, Types of Exercise, Benefits, Aerobic Capacity, Other Issues, Commercial Success. Website has many more.

View his Website at: aerobics-how-to-succeed.com

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If you are looking for a total body workout, you want to combine strength training and aerobics. These are two very different types of exercise but the work together to turn your body into a finely tuned machine. Weight training will tone your muscles, making you stronger while aerobics will make your heart and lungs stronger, giving you more stamina while burning the fat. These two disciplines of exercise work best when you combine them with a sensible, sound nutritional plan. When you combine good nutrition, strength training and aerobics you can get the body you have always wanted.

Strength Training

Strength training is typically weight bearing exercise or resistance training. It does just what the title suggests, it builds strength. Weight lifting and exercise machines are examples of strength training devices. However, pilates and yoga can also be methods of strength training. You don’t necessarily have to hold free weights to use a machine to strength train. You can use the weight of your own body to provide resistance and increase your strength.

It is a good practice to strength train one set of muscles (such as the upper body) one day and another set (such as the lower body) the next. Most muscle groups need time to rest and recover after exercise. So while you can work out every day, you should work out different muscle groups each day to give worked muscles time to rest and repair. This will give you optimal results.

Aerobics

Aerobics is a cardio exercise that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up. This can be anything from walking to riding a bike. You can run on a treadmill or take an aerobics class. If it gets your heart rate up, it is an aerobic activity. You generally move a lot during aerobic exercise.

You can do aerobic exercises every day because they do not focus on specific muscle groups. Where strength training makes you strong, aerobics makes you lean. It also strengthens your heart and respiratory system, giving you increased stamina. With regular aerobic exercise, you will find that you can run faster and longer as well as perform better.

Interval Training

Interval training is a combination of weight training and aerobics and is attributed to effective weight loss and conditioning. During interval training, you do your regular weight training, but intersperse with brief spurts of aerobic exercise. For instance, you do a set of curls, then walk on the treadmill for five minutes. Next, you do a bench press and then ride a bike for seven minutes. In short, you do an aerobic activity such as jumping rope, walking on the treadmill, running or riding a bike for short bursts in between each set of weights or nautilis machines.

Interval training is very popular among athletes because it builds stamina and strength. With people who want to lose weight, it can bring about fantastic results. Interval training utilizes the best results of strength training and aerobics.

What is a Total Body Workout?

A total body workout involves both strength training and aerobic exercise so that your entire body is worked. You get the benefits of being stronger as well as having enhanced endurance. A typical total body workout consists of working one muscle group (such as the upper body) for thirty minutes or so a day three times a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then the other muscle group (such as the lower body) for thirty minutes or so three times a week – Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Aerobic activity is practices every day for about thirty minutes. Some workouts differ in times, some go longer and some are shorter, but that is the basic total body workout.

Nutrition

If you are working your body with strength training and aerobics, you need to have the proper nutrition to fuel your body so that is can perform at an optimum level. You should eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats. You need a lot of protein to fuel your muscles, muscle growth and loss of fat. The various fruits and vegetables give you the vitamins and minerals that you need. Whole grains like brown rice and quinoa also offer protein, fiber and minerals. If you are training intensively you may find that you need nutritional supplements. This is very common for people who train vigorously.

There are specific differences between strength training and aerobics. Actually, these two types of exercise work together to form a total body workout. When you combine the two you will find that you body is stronger, leaner and have better stamina. If you want to tune your body to an optimal level, strength training and aerobic activity are the way to accomplish it.

The name aerobics for a specific genre of exercises is derived from the word ‘aerobic’, the literal meaning of which is ‘in the presence of oxygen’. Any physical activity that places on the body an increased demand for oxygen in a moderate, continuous, rhythmic and steady manner constitutes an aerobic exercise, for example, walking, jogging, cycling, or any other activity that employs large muscle groups.

Aerobic exercises can be of two types: low-impact and high-impact. Low-impact exercises include swimming, walking, cycling, rowing, while high-impact exercises include jogging, skipping, jumping jacks, stair climbing, etc. The low-impact ones are more suitable for pregnant women, senior citizens, and people with low fitness levels, as they do not injure the knees and other joints.

Variations of Aerobic Exercises

In addition to these regular aerobic exercises, indigenous variants have come up that eliminate the monotony factor and make exercising an interesting fun activity, for example, aerobic dancing, which is usually done in groups. The latest craze in aerobics is Zumba, a combination of regular aerobics and Latin dance.

Kickboxing, which combines martial arts kicks and punches into a high-intensity aerobic workout, is another favorite form of aerobics.

Aerobic exercises performed inside a water pool constitute water aerobics, and are low-impact in nature. Water aerobics can include kicks, jumping jacks, strides, knee lifts, and virtually everything that one can do outside water.

Health Benefits

Incorporating aerobics into your lifestyle can make a drastic difference to your fitness level. Increased fitness implies that you burn more calories compared to a sedentary person even during sleep. During aerobics the muscles should be made to work hard enough to require lots of oxygen, but not so hard as to push the heart beyond its capacity to deliver it.

According to American College of Sports Medicine, aerobic exercises done three times a week for at least 20 minutes at 60% of the maximum heart rate suffice for increasing the fitness level of an average person. For better and faster results, one can exercise more often and for longer duration (say, 40-45 minutes), but definitely not harder than 60% of maximum heart rate.

Aerobics increase the basic metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate is dependent on age, gender, the ratio of muscle to fat in the body, and the physical activity level. Incorporating some muscle-toning exercises (e.g., light weights lifting) into your aerobics workout program, two to three times a week, can bring about magical results. The more lean muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism, and the faster is the process of burning fat.

Conclusion

Working out requires both time, commitment, and lots of patience. However, if you overcome the initial obstacles and are able to incorporate an exercise program into your daily life, exercising becomes a habit and you look forward to experience the high that exercise delivers.

The optimum duration of aerobic exercise depends on the purpose for which you are doing it. If you are not overweight and are looking simply to improve your cardiovascular health, then 20 minutes, thrice a week suffices. But if you want to loose weight substantially, then 30-40 minutes of aerobic activity, 5 times a week, in combination with a muscle-toning program will definitely work out much better.

Summary:

Incorporating an aerobic exercise program into your lifestyle offers many health benefits. It helps to raise your fitness level, decreases your body mass index, decreases blood pressure, improves the lipid profile, relieves anxiety and tension, and lastly, makes you look fabulous due to toned muscles, improved posture and increased flexibility.