Improve your aerobic fitness
Cardio-respiratory health or ‘aerobic fitness’ determines how well your body is able to cope with increased physical demands. Poor fitness levels are often associated with conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancers. Therefore, improving your aerobic fitness should be at the top of your priorities for health and wellness.
Poor fitness will often leave you out of breath when walking, climbing stairs, going uphill or completing day to day tasks such as cleaning the house. The good news is, there are plenty of ways you can improve your fitness with activities as simple as going for a walk.
An Embody Movement fitness class
Keeping your heart rate elevated
To improve cardio-respiratory fitness you should aim to keep your heart rate elevated for longer periods of time. This will challenge the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and cause changes to your body at a cellular level.
This may mean your body can use oxygen better, you have more oxygen going to the cells or you can recover faster.
Interval training
High-intensity interval training has also been shown to have an improvement on cardio-respiratory health. However, it can seem overwhelming for many people when getting started.
Simple ways to improve cardio-respiratory fitness:
Anything is better than nothing so start small and gradually work your way up.
Monitor your breathing – you should be out of breath but able to still hold a conversation.
Find something you enjoy – walking, cycling, swimming, skipping, mountain climbing, dancing, aerobics. If your heart rate and breathing have increased, you are improving your fitness.
Gradually increase your intensity – time, speed or load can alter the way your heart rate and breathing respond.
Studies have shown that by improving your fitness you will boost your body’s protective effect from cardiovascular diseases. It can also have added benefits of improving weight, increasing bone health, improving mental wellbeing and improving your ability to participate in day to day activities - like playing with the grandchildren.
If you are unsure of how to get started with improving your fitness, get in touch with Alicea, our Exercise Physiologist and she will take you through some basic fitness tests and work with you on determining a safe and effective program for you.