Low-intensity aerobic exercise is best characterized as any physical activity that brings you to 50 to 60 percent of your maximum heart rate. Many athletic pursuits, such as walking, biking and swimming, can be performed at a low-intensity level by adjusting your pace. This level of exertion is often recommended when first starting an exercise program. While low-intensity exercise isn't as taxing as moderately or vigorously intense activities, it's still beneficial to your overall health.
Target Heart Rate
Before looking at the benefits of low-intensity aerobic exercise, it's important to understand target heart rate. In this situation, your target is 50 to 60 percent of your maximum heart rate. The American Heart Association estimates that your maximum heart rate is 220 beats per minute, or BPM, minus your age. At 36 years of age, your maximum heart rate is 184 BPM with a target heart rate zone of 92 to 110 BPM for low-intensity athletic pursuits.
Improves Fitness
As with any level of physical activity, low-intensity aerobic exercise improves your level of fitness. Not only can it increase your endurance, especially when done regularly, but many low-intensity activities also build muscle strength and develop better flexibility. The mere act of walking is met with resistance as a result of your own body weight, so a leisurely walk can help maintain the tone and strength of your muscles. Other low-intensity activities, such as yoga or Pilates, improve your overall flexibility while strengthening many muscle groups.
Helps Weight Loss
Though you're not expending as much energy as moderate to vigorous physical activities require, your low-intensity aerobic exercise does help you burn additional calories. If you burn more calories than you consume in a given day, you can expect to lose weight. You may need to increase the duration of low-intensity activities to reap the same rewards as more physically intense pursuits, but you're still expending energy, which has a direct impact on caloric burn.
Improves Overall Health
Besides improving your level of fitness and helping you maintain a desirable weight, low-intensity aerobic exercise improves other aspects of your health. According to the American Heart Association, regular physical activity can improve your blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. It's also known to reduce your chances of heart disease and type II diabetes. The resistance created by low-intensity activities even benefits your bones.
Member Comments