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Aerobic Fitness
The largest amount of oxygen that you can use per
minute during exercise is called your maximum
oxygen uptake (MVO2). This is often refered to as
your aerobic capacity.
The effort that you can exert over a prolonged period
of time is limited by your ability to deliver oxygen to
the working muscles. Regular vigorous exercise
produces a training effect that can 30%. An
increased Mov2 indicates an increased ability of the
heart to pump blood, of the lungs to ventilate oxygen
and of the muscles to take up oxygen.
Anaerobic Training
This means "without oxygen" and is the output of
energy when the oxygen supply is insufficient to
meet the body's long-term energy demands. (For
example, 100-meter sprint).
The Training Threshold
This is the minimum level of exercise, which is
required to produce significant improvements in any
physical fitness parameter.
Progression
As you become fitter, a higher intensity of exercise is
required to create an overload and therefore
provides continued improvement.
Overload
This is where you exercise at a level above that
which can be carried out comfortably. The intensity,
duration and frequency of exercise should be above
the training threshold and should be gradually
increased as the body adapts to the increasing
demands. As your fitness level improves, so the
training threshold should be raised. Working through
your program and gradually increasing the overload
factor is important.
Specificity
Different forms of exercise produce different results.
The type of exercise that is carried out is specific
both to the muscle groups being used and to the
energy source involved. There is little transfer of the
effects of exercise, e.g. from strength training to
cardiovascular fitness. That is why it is important to
have an exercise program tailored to your specific
needs.
Reversibility
If you stop exercising or do not do your program
often enough, you will lose the benefits you have
gained. Regular workouts are the key to success.
Warm Up
Every exercise program should start with a warm up
where the body is prepared for the effort to come. It
should be gentle and preferably use the Stretching
should be included in both your warm up and cool
down, and should be performed after 3~5 minutes
of low intensity aerobic activity or callisthenic type
exercise.
Warm Down or Cool Down
This involves a gradual decrease in the intensity of
the exercise session. Following exercise, a large
supply of blood remains in the working muscles. If it
is not returned promptly to the central circulation,
pooling of blood may occur in the muscles.
Heart Rate
As you exercise, so the rate at which your heart beat
also increases. This is often used as a measure of
the required intensity of exercise. You need to exer-
cise hard enough to condition your circulatory
system, and increase your heart rate, but not
enough to strain your heart.
Your initial level of fitness is important in developing
an exercise program for you. If you are starting off,
you can get a good training effect with a heart rate of
110-120 beats per minute (BPM). If you are fitter,
you will need a higher threshold of stimulation.
To begin with, you should exercise at a level that
elevates your heart rate to about 65 to 70% of your
maximum heart rate. If you find this is too easy, you
may want to increase it, but it is better to lean on the
conservative side.
As a rule of thumb, the maximum heart rate is 220
BPM minus your age. As you increase in age, so
your heart, like other muscles, loses some of its
efficiency. Some of its nature loss is won back as
fitness improves.
The following table is a quide for those who are
"starting fitness".
Age
Target Heart Rate
10 Second
Count
Beats per
Minute
5
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