Aerobic means “in the presence of oxygen”, and if you exercise aerobically this is defined as doing some activity which means the body needs more oxygen for an extended period of time. This is a very complicated way of saying that aerobic exercise is any form of sustained exercise like walking, cycling or swimming. The fitter you are, the higher the intensity of your activity can be and the longer you can carry it out for.
Exercising aerobically has many benefits including conditioning your heart and lungs to work more effectively, and also burning fat. Exercising aerobically also improves your muscle tone and increases the ability of a muscle to keep working sub-maximally for longer.
So what does all this mean that the average person? It means that doing some form of aerobic exercise on a regular basis is very good for you and will make your heart work more efficiently and your respiratory system more capable of working harder for longer without you becoming breathless and stressed. The same goes for your muscles and, since any form of exercise requires fuel, fats and carbohydrates are taken from your body’s stores to be used to sustain the activity, resulting in overall fat loss.
The mistake most unconditioned people make when they decide to start exercising in an effort to lose weight is that they try to do far too much too soon. The spirit may be willing but the body is probably fairly flabby! The most important thing to do first, especially if you are a man over 40 or a woman over 50 and unused to regular exercise, is to get a checkup from your doctor to ensure that there is no reason why you should not exercise. Your doctor will probably be delighted by your decision to exercise and will encourage you.
The next thing is to find an activity that you like. There is no point telling yourself you will go swimming regularly if you detest water! If you feel you would like to go to an exercise class, the chances are that there is one fairly close to you as many good aerobic classes are held in local church halls. This is a good way to start as it means you will get guidance from a qualified instructor on how to warm up and exercise correctly and safely and any good exercise class will also teach you how to stretch your major muscle groups at the end of the workout.
An hour’s worth of sustained aerobic activity can burn between 200 and 400 calories as well as making you fitter and stronger and feeling much better, so it’s well worth taking up some form of aerobic exercise.