By Anita Ramsey CSCS, CFT, SPARQ
www.anitaramsey.com personal site
www.needtobuildmuscle.com sponsored athlete
Increasing numbers of people are looking to aerobics to either improve their cardio respiratory endurance or to decrease body fat, with the latter more often the reason. Aerobic fitness has a few advantages for the bodybuilder and fitness competitor in stripping-off excess body fat.
What Is Aerobic Fitness?
Well, aerobic fitness is known by many other names, including cardio-vascular fitness, cardio respiratory endurance, aerobic endurance, and stamina. You think you would need to be a doctor to be able to say all those scientific words. What all these keywords are referring to is the body’s ability to maintain prolonged bouts of physical activity. Or, how long can you go without getting out of breath, in more laymen’s terms.
The bodies own level of aerobic fitness depends upon the efficiency of the heart and lungs. The lungs take in the oxygen, which combined with glycogen create energy, while the heart pumps the oxygen in the red blood cells into the working muscles. Someone exhibiting good aerobic fitness will have lungs that can take in a large amount of oxygen, and a heart that can efficiently pump oxygen round the body. So, aerobic energy production, where the oxygen is combined with glycogen to create energy, can be sustained for long periods of time. Sometimes, this duration can range from minutes in an unconditioned athlete, up to many hours in a properly conditioned athlete. This basically describes just about anyone who is physically fit.
What are the benefits of Aerobic Fitness Training?
We all know that aerobic conditioning is important to activities such as distance running, cycling, swimming, boxing, and even rugby. But, aerobic conditioning is very important for bodybuilding, weightlifting, and many other fitness activities also. Why? Well, primarily, aerobic fitness conditioning assists in improving the efficiency of the body recovering from strenuous activities, and this is where aerobic capacity is an advantage, as oxygen is used to pump waste products away. Therefore, an individual with superior aerobic capacity is able to use the oxygen pumped into the system more efficiently to aid them to recover faster from exercise. Thus, you are able to train and workout with greater measure.
The aerobic energy system, used over long periods of time, begins to use fats stored around the body for energy. So, bodybuilders use aerobic sessions in pre-contest workouts for cutting excess fat off of the frame for lean muscle mass and lower body fat. Cardio workouts also step up the metabolic rate in individuals. This means the body will burn off more stored fat. So, if you are looking to obtain any of the above conditioning effects then take the following recommendations.
FREQUENCY
Aerobics exercise should be performed three times a week or more, depending on your goal, for optimal results.
DURATION
While the proper length for an aerobic session is 20 to 60 minutes, the duration also depends on your intensity in the activity. If you want to burn body fat, then you should perform a lower intensity activity for a longer period of time. It is best to perform this mode of aerobic training anyway. Why? Well, because, you will achieve a total-fitness effect quicker. There is less of a chance for injuries too, which are associated with high-intensity aerobic training.
INTENSITY
You should perform aerobics at an intensity of 60 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate for proper fat loss and exercise benefit. You should also note if you are trying to drop body fat and you are on a no-carb diet or very low carb diet your intensity should be very low. When on a no-carb diet you will have no glycogen stores, therefore, if you let your heart rate get too high you will burn muscle.
EXERCISES
The possibilities are endless. Any activity where you can maintain continuous and rhythmic use of your large muscle groups will definitely stress the aerobic system. How about running, jogging, walking, hiking, in-line skating, swimming, rowing, spinning, cross-country- skiing, rope jumping, old-fashion aerobic dance, and lets not forget that new stuff used in-conjunction with martial arts.
WARM-UP and COOL DOWN
A good rule of thumb is to do the same mode of exercise to warm-up before going into your aerobic session. For example, if you are walking, start slowly and then after about 10 minutes start increasing your speed slowly. This 10-minute warm-up will prepare your body for proper performance. Now, cooling down is just as important as warming-up. It’s like walking the horse after you placed it through some work. That 10 minutes you used to warm-up can also be used to cool down. This cool down period keeps the blood circulating. Keep your cool down going until you have stopped sweating profusely, your breathing slows, and your heart rate returns to a more normal rate.
The following tips can help you maintain motivation and aid you in getting the best results from any aerobic training program:
- Set goals.
- Keep your workouts moving at a brisk pace.
- Don’t over do it, or in another word, don’t over-train.
- Exercise in different places or different gyms for a little variety.
- Always do your cardio workout the same time of day.
- If trying to lose body fat the two best times to do your cardio are either first thing in the morning on an empty stomach or immediately after your weight training workout.
- Never do cardio right before you lift weights.
- Use a Walkman or tape player to listen to your favorite music.
- Or listen to motivational speaking tapes.
Remember, aerobic training should be enjoyable. Use a wide range of different aerobic conditioning activities. This will help you decrease the possibility of monotony. So, concentrate on your goals and success will occur.
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