Aerobic Fitness Information

Though most fitness experts recommend including aerobic activity into your exercise routine, the concept is still fairly recent. Aerobic exercise and its connection to fitness wasn't widely recognized until a doctor, just over 40 years ago, focused on how certain exercises raised your heart rate and benefited your health. Today, aerobic activities, such as running, are seen as a cornerstone to fitness.

History

A medical doctor, Kenneth H. Cooper, coined the word in 1968 in his book, "Aerobics," about the relationship between exercise and cardiovascular health, according to Cooper40Aerobics.com. Dr. Cooper simply added an ''s'' to an existing adjective, "aerobic," which means "to live in air or with oxygen."
But it wasn't until 1986 that Dr. Cooper submitted the official definition of "aerobics" to the Oxford English Dictionary. It reads: "Method of physical exercise for producing beneficial changes in the respiratory and circulatory systems by activities which require meeting a modest increase in oxygen intake and so can be maintained."

Exercises

Physical activities that involve the large muscles in your arms, legs and hips are typically aerobic. Such movement causes you to breathe faster and more deeply. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, among the activities that qualify as aerobic are: jogging, running, swimming, cycling and rowing. Also included are group exercise classes that involve aerobic movements and working out on an elliptical trainer.

Benefits

The benefits of regular aerobic activity are many, according to the Mayo Clinic. They include increased stamina, a stronger immune system, a healthier heart and clearer arteries. Aerobic exercise is also effective in helping with weight control and reducing health risks. It's also credited with reducing the odds of developing many serious health conditions. That includes obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, can reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Function

When you engage in aerobic activity, healthy changes happen to your body. You breathe faster and more deeply, which maximizes the oxygen in your blood, according to the Mayo Clinic. Your heart, now beating faster, increases the blood flow to your muscles and lungs. Your small blood vessels also widen and carry more oxygen to your muscles. Simultaneously, they also remove waste products, such as lactic acid and carbon dioxide.

Warning

Though aerobic activity is necessary for fitness, injuries can also follow.
Arch pain can result from the stress exerted on the bottom of the foot in an aerobics routine, warns the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine. Runners can experience stress fractures from working out on hard surfaces or from exercising too much. Shin splints are a problem, too, created when the shin muscle and tendon become inflamed because of being overstressed.