What Aerobic fitness Can Do For You
Aerobic fitness is like a fountain of youth. The more aerobically fit you are, the younger you feel, and feeling younger gives you an aura of confidence that also makes you look younger.
What Is Aerobic fitness?
A simple definition of aerobic fitness is this: It's a level of exertion that increases the delivery of oxygen to your muscles, enabling them to work longer.
Unfit people experience shortness of breath when doing normal activities, like bending over to pick up a child, or doing housework or yardwork. Bending over to take laundry out of the clothes dryer can be a challenge for an overweight person who has a low level of aerobic fitness.
When you improve your aerobic fitness, you will no longer gasp for breath when you play with your children or walk up a flight of stairs.
How Can I Improve My Aerobic fitness
There is only one way to improve aerobic fitness: by aerobic exercise. Does that sound hard? It's not. Walking is aerobic exercise. You can get to the fountain of youth by putting one foot in front of the other and walking.
To get aerobic benefits from you walking, be sure to walk fast enough to raise your pulse rate and make it a little harder to breathe. You should be able to carry on a conversation, but not quite able to sing a solo.
Some people like to listen to music when they exercise. They find that keeping the beat to music inspires them to keep moving. Others enjoy walking with friends, and say that the knowledge someone else is waiting is what helps them get out the front door every morning to get that all important aerobic fitness in.
If you like to walk but lack the motivation to get out there and walk every day, try wearing a pedometer that counts your steps every day. It's fun to find out how many steps you take in a typical day, and then it's even more fun to see if you can add just a few steps a day, then a few steps more, and more, until you are walking almost everywhere you go.
Some people don't enjoy aerobic fitness exercises, but they know aerobic fitness adds years to their lives. These people like to zone out when they work out by reading magazines, listening to audio books, or watching television programs while they run on a treadmill or work the elliptical.
Improving your aerobic fitness is a surefire way to improve your health and look and feel better.