Aerobic exercise improves your overall health and is easy to incorporate into your daily life.  Consider the benefits that you’ll reap:

1. By combining a healthy diet with 30 minutes of regular aerobic activity 5 – 7 days a week, you’ll lose weight and keep it off.
2. Aerobic activity stimulates your immune system, which leaves you less vulnerable to minor illnesses, such as colds and flu.
3. Aerobic exercise reduces your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, strokes, and more.
4. Aerobic exercise strengthens your heart.  Like any muscle in your body, the stronger it is, the more efficiently it works.
5. Aerobic exercise energizes you.  With regular exercise, you’ll find that you have more energy to deal with day to day activities.
6. Aerobic exercise is a natural anti-depressant.  It boosts your mood, helps to relieve anxiety and helps you relax.
7. As you age, aerobic exercise helps you remain mobile and limber and keeps your mind sharp.
8. You’ll live a longer and healthier life when you exercise regularly.

Recent studies have shown that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day is just as effective as one hour, three times a week.  Even breaking the 30 minutes down into 10 minute increments throughout the day offers aerobic benefits.

Although it isn’t necessary to use any equipment to achieve cardio fitness — just a good pair of shoes — still, aerobic accessories can add variety to your routine and aid in the effectiveness of your workout.

Pedometers are great accessories if you’re walking for fitness.  You can find pedometers that will count steps, calories and even distance.  They can be a great motivating tool as you count the number of steps you take and set goals to increase that number with each workout.

Heart rate monitors are practical, versatile tools that offer a myriad of features depending on the model you choose.  They come with or without chest straps, and offer features such as target zone monitors and alarms, stop watches, timers, lap counters, fat & calories burned, and more.

Aerobic steps are a great way to add variety to your aerobic workout. For a fun and challenging workout at home, pop a step aerobic recording into your DVD player (you can pick some up at your local library if you don’t want to buy them) or put on some high-energy music and start moving.

Jump ropes aren’t just for kids!  Jumping for just 15 minutes will burn about 125 calories – more than swimming or bicycling for the same amount of time.  Plus jumping helps to improve balance, endurance and agility.

It’s always recommended that you check with your physician before beginning any fitness program.  And start out slow. Regardless of your age, weight or athletic ability, you will benefit from aerobic exercise.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Shaping Up. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.