To receive the full cardiovascular benefits of aerobic exercise, you must be physically capable of performing the workouts at low to moderate or intense levels over sustained periods of time. Variables that determine the limitations include age, gender and physical fitness. Additionally, the most intense aerobic exercises only can be maintained for short spurts, even in elite athletes.
Sports Endurance
In competitive sports, the level of intense aerobic capacity diminishes with distance. Sports in which athletes typically are incapable of sustaining top aerobic capacity are freestyle swimming, cross-country skiing, race-walking, cycling and speed skating. While men usually can sustain top aerobic levels longer than women, the longest that aerobic endurance can be supported averages between four and six minutes. Sports that require quick bursts of speed at maximum levels include sprints and hockey and do not have to take aerobic limitations into consideration.
Environmental Factors
While athletes eventually learn how long they can sustain top aerobic levels through training, other variables can affect their times. For example, wind drag on cyclists requires them to exert additional effort to keep pedaling, which limits their time spent at maximum capacity. One way cyclists overcome this limitation is to line up behind each other to break the drag. Speed skaters also employ this tactic to prevent aerobic limitations.
Complete Fitness
Aerobic fitness is only one aspect of overall ideal health that often does not address other physical issues that significantly affect mobility and endurance. Both aerobic training and strength training through resistance exercises are vital to reduce weight, manage blood sugar levels and allow previously sedentary adults to remain mobile. Without strong muscles, you can't successfully perform aerobic exercises. Without the cardiovascular endurance derived from aerobic exercise, you are in no shape to perform sufficient resistance exercises.
Restrictions
Chronic disabilities and diseases can limit the effectiveness of aerobic conditioning. People suffering from conditions such as heart disease or arthritis are encouraged to develop aerobic regimens but limit the intensity of the exercise to prevent complications. Back pain limits the amount of aerobic activity you can engage in. While intense levels of aerobic exercise may be excluded from your program, low-impact aerobics may be more suitable. You won't receive the same benefits you might derive from high-impact exercises, but the limitations should not keep you from exercising. Even mild aerobic exercise can lead to positive effects that increase flexibility and endurance to limited, but improved, levels.
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