Cardiovascular Fitness For Health And Good Living

Everyone agrees that it is important to be physically fit

. However, the answers are many and varied for questions such as:

What exactly should we strive for?

And how do we get there?

Again, like so much of everything in life, the answer is not black or white.For example, if you are active in a sport such as tennis or golf or jogging, each of these has specific training regimens designed to enable players to safely meet the demands of that sport. Most of us, however, are more concerned about health related physical fitness, those actions that help us stay independent and increase our resistance to disease, injury and pain.

For healthy aging we need to be cardiovascular fit, have muscle strength and endurance, and be flexible and well balanced. I hope this does not sound out of your ability because it is not. Addressing all these fitness factors will take effort on your part, there is no mistake about that, but it can be done.

Cardiovascular fitness is a measure of how well you are respiratory and circulatory systems supply oxygen and fuel to your different demands. For example, cardiovascular fitness is what allows you to dash into the street when your 2 year old grandson dashes into the street, or walk the five flights of stairs to the new apartment of your granddaughter.

Poor cardiovascular fitness is a strong predictor of being at risk for dying. It is as significant as smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. On top of that poor cardiovascular fitness exacerbates the effects of other factors. For example, if you have low cardiovascular fitness you have increased your risk that you will develop hypertension in the next few years.

The test for your aerobic fitness is the VO2 max. It measures the amount of volume of Oxygen that you use when you exercise as hard as you can. You could be tested on a treadmill until you reach maximum intensity which is when you are exhausted. Throughout the test you exhale into this tube which measures your oxygen levels.

Here it is again, folks. It is the same old news that exercise helps! You can improve your cardiovascular fitness doing any exercise that raises your heart rate and makes you breathe faster such as brisk walking, swimming, cycling or aerobics. Aerobic instructors often feel you have to work out at 70 or 80 percent of your maximum heart rate to get cardiovascular benefits. However, some physicians say that more moderate exercise is good enough to improve your cardiovascular risk factors and your overall health.

My rule of thumb is that if you can talk easily while exercising you need to work harder. On the other hand, if you cannot talk at all you need to back off.

by: Ruthan Brodsky

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