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Faizan
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, aerobic exercise is "any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature," such as riding a bicycle. Aerobic exercise is hardly a modern invention -- running, for example, is a classic aerobic activity -- but interest in organized aerobic workouts boomed in the late 20th century. If you belong to a health club you likely have your choice of numerous aerobics classes, or you can exercise along with an aerobics DVD at home. Constructing your own aerobic workout takes a bit more thought, but you can still choose from a variety of exercise formats.
Timing Your Workouts
Aerobic exercise can fit into any schedule. If you have a large block of available time every few days, perform two or three long workouts per week. If you’re fairly busy, perform shorter workouts four or five times a week. You can even break your workouts into brief segments. According to the Mayo Clinic, doing three 10-minute walks per day is beneficial. The key is to either perform 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise each week -- such as running or biking on hilly terrain -- or 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity.
Warming Up
Be sure to warm up before an aerobic workout. To keep it simple, begin your activity at a slower pace for five to 10 minutes -- walk before running or ride your bike on flat ground before taking on hills. You'll want to break a mild sweat and raise your heart rate, but you won't want to go hard enough to be out of breath. Follow the same pattern during a brief cool-down session after your aerobic workout, then stretch your muscles to help increase your flexibility. Focus on your hips, thighs and calves, and hold your stretches for 30 seconds without bouncing.
Machine Workouts
If you go to a gym, choose from machines such as the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine, stair climber and others. Work out for at least 20 minutes, not including your warm-up and cool-down sessions. If you use a treadmill, for example, set the speed to at least 3 mph and use a 1 percent incline to compensate for the lack of wind resistance indoors. If a steady workout is too boring or easy, try the pyramid workout suggested by military.com that features eight 30-second segments. Set the incline for 2.5 percent and the speed at 4 mph for the first segment. Increase the speed by 0.5 mph during segments two through five to reach 6 mph. Gradually reduce the incline to 1.5 percent during the same span. Reduce your speed by 0.5 mph during each of the last three segments but gradually increase the incline back to 2.5 percent. Repeat the pattern for a minimum of 20 minutes. To increase your calorie burn, do an interval workout by alternating high- and low-intensity activities. On a treadmill, you can walk briskly for 90 seconds and then jog for 30 seconds, or jog for one minute and sprint for 20 seconds. Whichever pattern you choose, continue it throughout your workout.
Running Workouts
Running workouts follow similar principles as machine sessions, but you don’t have a built-in tool to establish a speed, incline or resistance level, so you must listen to your body instead. During steady-pace or pyramid workouts you should be able to breathe without panting and to speak short sentences out loud. Slow down if you can’t accomplish these tasks. You’ll be huffing and puffing after running a fast interval segment, but you should be able to pass the breathing and speaking tests at the start of the next fast interval.
Perform steady-pace workouts by jogging on a track or a running path for at least 20 minutes. To run on hills, shorten your stride on the way up and retain an upright posture as you descend. Jog on flat ground until you can breathe rhythmically and speak, and then run back up the hill. Perform sprint intervals on a running track. For example, find the 100-meter start and finish lines and then sprint for 100 meters. Walk around the track until you reach the 100-meter starting line and then sprint again. Do a ladder workout by running segments measuring 400, 800, 1,200, 800 and 400 meters, in that order, with two to three minutes of rest between segments.
Timing Your Workouts
Aerobic exercise can fit into any schedule. If you have a large block of available time every few days, perform two or three long workouts per week. If you’re fairly busy, perform shorter workouts four or five times a week. You can even break your workouts into brief segments. According to the Mayo Clinic, doing three 10-minute walks per day is beneficial. The key is to either perform 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise each week -- such as running or biking on hilly terrain -- or 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity.
Warming Up
Be sure to warm up before an aerobic workout. To keep it simple, begin your activity at a slower pace for five to 10 minutes -- walk before running or ride your bike on flat ground before taking on hills. You'll want to break a mild sweat and raise your heart rate, but you won't want to go hard enough to be out of breath. Follow the same pattern during a brief cool-down session after your aerobic workout, then stretch your muscles to help increase your flexibility. Focus on your hips, thighs and calves, and hold your stretches for 30 seconds without bouncing.
Machine Workouts
If you go to a gym, choose from machines such as the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine, stair climber and others. Work out for at least 20 minutes, not including your warm-up and cool-down sessions. If you use a treadmill, for example, set the speed to at least 3 mph and use a 1 percent incline to compensate for the lack of wind resistance indoors. If a steady workout is too boring or easy, try the pyramid workout suggested by military.com that features eight 30-second segments. Set the incline for 2.5 percent and the speed at 4 mph for the first segment. Increase the speed by 0.5 mph during segments two through five to reach 6 mph. Gradually reduce the incline to 1.5 percent during the same span. Reduce your speed by 0.5 mph during each of the last three segments but gradually increase the incline back to 2.5 percent. Repeat the pattern for a minimum of 20 minutes. To increase your calorie burn, do an interval workout by alternating high- and low-intensity activities. On a treadmill, you can walk briskly for 90 seconds and then jog for 30 seconds, or jog for one minute and sprint for 20 seconds. Whichever pattern you choose, continue it throughout your workout.
Running Workouts
Running workouts follow similar principles as machine sessions, but you don’t have a built-in tool to establish a speed, incline or resistance level, so you must listen to your body instead. During steady-pace or pyramid workouts you should be able to breathe without panting and to speak short sentences out loud. Slow down if you can’t accomplish these tasks. You’ll be huffing and puffing after running a fast interval segment, but you should be able to pass the breathing and speaking tests at the start of the next fast interval.
Perform steady-pace workouts by jogging on a track or a running path for at least 20 minutes. To run on hills, shorten your stride on the way up and retain an upright posture as you descend. Jog on flat ground until you can breathe rhythmically and speak, and then run back up the hill. Perform sprint intervals on a running track. For example, find the 100-meter start and finish lines and then sprint for 100 meters. Walk around the track until you reach the 100-meter starting line and then sprint again. Do a ladder workout by running segments measuring 400, 800, 1,200, 800 and 400 meters, in that order, with two to three minutes of rest between segments.
Posted in: Aerobics
