Exercise From The Top Of The Hourglass
It’s a big ask expecting to stay healthy without keeping yourself fit.
Aerobic fitness is the best indicator of the condition of the system responsible for transporting oxygen to working muscles: – the heart, lungs and blood.
However, to restrict the importance of aerobic fitness to the cardiovascular system does it a grave injustice. On the contrary, your level of aerobic fitness is by far and away the best indicator of metabolic health.
Only 10 to 15 percent of people over the age of 30 years participate in sufficiently vigorous activity (of the huff and puff variety) each week to maintain reasonable level and reap the benefits of aerobic fitness.
According to the research, the stimulus to improving aerobic fitness is at least three vigorous aerobic sessions a week. I think that’s a bare minimum. I’d say 4 times is good, 5 times is better and 6 times is best. As for the duration of each session, 20 minutes a 30 minutes is better and 40 minutes is best.
Along with time, the intensity of your heart rate needs to be taken into account. They say that you need to get your heart rate to at least 60% of your maximum heart rate (MHR) to gain an aerobic training effect. 70% is probably more like it. 80% is achievable and sustainable for people in good aerobic condition and something worth aiming at. Maximum heart rate is said to be 220 minus your age.
You can read more about this at http://www.aerabyte.com
The people I see who are in the best of health are those who have a vigorous aerobic training program, for 40 minutes on most days of the week. I see little evidence that ambling around the block three times a day for 10 minutes does much for people’s metabolic health or that it has much of an impact on lowering stress levels.
Well there you have it. Exercise from the top of the Hourglass and reap the benefits of good health.
