Slip into your workout clothes, tie on your running shoes, grab a bottle of water and get in a good aerobic workout. Before you start, check your pulse rate and, while you're exercising, check it again or check the intensity of your exercise by how you feel. It's more important to gauge how you feel as you exercise than it is to make sure your target rate is "right where it should be."
Definition
Aerobic exercise is any activity that takes place "as you breathe the air while you exercise at a steady rate." The exercise must be sustained over a measurable time -- hiking, running, swimming, bicycling or aerobic dance. The aerobic exercise must cause you to increase your breathing rate and keep it at a quicker pace as you are exercising, according to Kaiser Permanente.
Medical Precautions
Visit your doctor and undergo a physical before beginning any exercise program, but it is especially important to do so if you have ever experienced any cardiac difficulties such as high blood pressure, chest pain or other heart trouble. If you suffer from any other health conditions or if you are over 40 years of age and have two or more health risk factors for heart disease, it is also important to undergo a physical. These risks are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or a family history of heart disease that develops before the age of 45.
Training Zone
During aerobic exercise, you don't want to go beyond your training zone -- you burn more fat at a lower intensity level of aerobic exercise. Your training zone is 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, which can be roughly determined by subtracting your age from 220. Aerobic exercise should raise your heart rate to a point between 60 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate.
As you exercise aerobically, you should be able to talk without panting, you should not feel muscle pain and you should break into a small sweat. If you are just beginning an aerobic exercise program, keep your heart rate at the 60 percent level; if you have been working out for a longer period of time, exert yourself more so you work closer to 80 percent.
Purpose of Aerobic Exercise
By engaging in aerobic exercise on a regular basis, you strengthen your cardiovascular system. Your lungs benefit as well; as you continue in your exercise program, your lungs, heart and blood vessels all respond by functioning more efficiently. Exercise also helps to decrease your blood pressure; when you couple this with a heart-healthy diet, your cholesterol level may also decrease.
Risks
If you begin to allow your aerobic exercise sessions to last longer than an hour at a time, you risk physical injury. Twenty minutes, not including a warm-up and cool-down session, is best, Kaiser Permanente. At least three aerobic exercise sessions per week give you the health benefits you're seeking. You will know if you're working out too hard if you can't talk while exercising. If you can sing, you should increase the intensity level of your sessions. If you begin to experience symptoms such as dizziness, feeling faint, severe shortness of breath, joint pain, persistent fatigue, muscle soreness or irregular heartbeat, stop exercising right away and get medical help. If you begin feeling symptoms consistent with a stroke or heart attack, call 911 or get emergency care right away.
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