The Fitness Benefits Of Cardio
As middle age and our mid sections begin ballooning in direct proportion to one another, we begin to notice that things don’t always work out the way we are accustomed to. We tend to get tired more often and more easily, and we also discover that it is harder to stand up after we have been sitting for a while. Joints may start to ache, and you may discover pains in areas that you forgot you had. It’s all a part of getting older, but the good news is that when it comes to fitness, chronological aging don’t have to necessarily go hand in hand with biological aging.
Recent research indicates that regular, moderate to vigorous cardiovascular exercise may successfully delay biological aging by as much as 12 years. Think about it….when you hit 50 you will feel like you are still 30. That is a very attractive goal when it comes to beginning an exercise program.
Cardio can not only make you feel more fit, but may actually reverse the aging process.
As we age, there is a natural decline in aerobic capacity that begins to take place at the rate of about five ml per decade. It doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider the difference from your 20s to your 60s, then the change begins to become very apparent. Once aerobic capacity in men dips about 18, and in women about 15, much of your regular daily activity becomes almost too difficult to perform, at least not without experiencing extreme fatigue.
The good news is this….relatively high intensity aerobic workouts performed over a fairly long period of time can boost your aerobic capacity by as much as 25 percent, more than enough to overcome the deficit that had been established. This is the equivalent of 10 to 12 biological years. Even those leading fairly sedentary lives may benefit from aerobic exercise programs that can reverse some of the biological aging conditions that have already taken place.
The Self Improvement Result
In order to improve aerobic capacity, it is a foregone conclusion that you have to exercise your heart and lungs, pushing yourself through each cardio session to increase lung capacity. It is not necessary, however, to push yourself continuously throughout your workout.
Instead, work on activities that push you pretty hard, and then allow yourself the time to rest and rejuvenate. Interval training and a variety of group fitness activities allow for an efficient hard-easy-hard sequence that can have demonstrable effects when it comes to enhancing your aerobic capacity and ability.
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