Fitness 101 -- Cardiovascular Training

Since I'm home recuperating from my knee surgery (and really have no excuse), I thought I'd add a new post to continue my topic from earlier in the year....Fitness 101

Let's begin with Cardiovascular training.  We are told that we need to be doing some form of cardiovascular exercise every day, but what does that mean exactly?

From the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) website: "Any sport or activity that works large groups of muscles, is continually maintained and performed rhythmically is defined as aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise. For long-term cardiovascular health, the ACSM points out that it's important to choose a variety of exercises that stimulate and challenge your muscles, heart and lungs. ACSM classifies cardiovascular exercises into three groups based on the skill level, caloric burn and intensity."

Group I

"Cardiovascular exercises that don't require you to develop a skill, but that are consistent in intensity level and energy expenditure -- the number of calories you burn -- are classified by ACSM as Group I activities. These types of activities include walking, jogging, cycling, and stair climbing. If your workout at the gym includes using cardiovascular machines such as a treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical machine, you are doing Group I cardiovascular exercises."

Group II

"Cardiovascular exercises that vary in the amount of calories you burn based on how hard you work are classified as Group II activities. Group II exercises include swimming, water aerobics, dance aerobics and hiking. As you work harder during these activities and increase your intensity level, you burn more calories. Group II cardiovascular exercises are not dependent on your skill level -- even as a beginner, you can increase your intensity and burn more calories."

Group III

"Sports and activities such as volleyball, basketball and tennis are classified as Group II exercises. When doing Group III activities, your cardiovascular benefit will depend on how hard you work and how well you perform in these sports. For example, if you play tennis, when you practice more and improve your skills, you'll swing more at the ball with greater intensity. As you become better at the sport and put more energy into it, you'll burn more calories."

The ACSM 2010 Guidelines for Cardiovascular Stimulus recommend that a person do cardio exercise (any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously and is aerobic in nature) 3-5 days a week.

A combination of moderate and vigorous intensity is recommended for most adults. Moderate-intensity  only exercise (40-<60% maximum heart rate) should be at least 30 min. long for 5 or more days for a total of 150 min. per week. Vigorous-intensity only exercise (>60-85% max. heart rate) should be 20-25 min on 3 or more days for a total of 75 min. per week.  Lower intensity exercise (30-40% max. heart rate) can be used for extremely deconditioned adults.

To promote or maintain weight loss, 50-60 min. per day to a total of 300 min. per week of moderate exercise is recommended. This doesn't have to be done all at once--intermittent exercise of at least 10 min. in duration to accumulate the times listed above is an alternative strategy.

Step count can be used as well--a minimum of 3,000-4,000 steps of moderate-vigorous-intensity of walking is recommended with 10,000 steps being a goal for weight loss.

To improve the cardiorespiratory system, overload must occur.  This means that the body must be given an appropriate challenge--it needs to be working harder than it's used to.  This can be done by changing the frequency, intensity, duration or mode of exercise, being careful not to cause injury by increasing any of the above too much, too soon.  It needs to be progressive. 

Next, what is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise?