Cardiovascular fitness improves your heart and lungs and is achieved by working hard and getting out of breath. It is the type of training people usually associate with “getting fit”. As your fitness improves you will not get out of breath so quickly.
Improving your cardiovascular fitness with Diane firstly involves an assessment of your level of Cardiovascular Fitness. Using that information she then designs a programme to make your heart and lungs work harder and become stronger and more effective. Your fitness level can be re measured so that you can see the level of improvement that has taken place. The great benefit of cardiovascular fitness training is that each individual finds it easy to know when improvement has been made. Even without a formal measurement we know when we would previously have got out of breath. This can be very motivating!
How does cardiovascular training actually help my body?
- Your lungs can inhale more air increasing oxygen in the blood. So?
- You need fewer breaths to take in the same volume of air So?
- You have more stamina before you get a sense of fatigue
- Your heart and blood circulation is improved
- Fat is burned so you lose weight and look slimmer
Best of all, this type of exercise is very effective in releasing endorphins in the body and you get a real “feel good” factor afterwards. It is really helpful if you suffer from stress or high blood pressure although you have to be cautious when exercising with this condition. See Exercising with Medical Conditions
High and Low Impact cardiovascular exercise
Pounding the treadmill, and getting all steamed up in a high-energy class is described as “high impact” exercise. This type of exercise also strengthens the bones and helps in the fight against osteoporosis, something from which women are much more prone to suffer than men.
However, if you have joint problems high impact exercise could be dangerous. You want to avoid pounding your feet against the floor, or jarring your body, and “low impact” exercise will be better for you. Rowing, cycling, walking and stepping are examples of low impact exercise.
Diane will work out the programme best suited to you to help you to achieve your targets in this area. In fact when you first begin to stress your cardiovascular system it can feel uncomfortable to be breathless. But Diane will closely monitor your heart rate to ensure you are not in any danger, and motivate you to keep going.
Cardiovascular exercise needs to be undertaken several times a week for improvements to take effect. As well as making your heart and lungs work better, it is the magic ingredient in weight loss programmes as it helps the body burn fat.
Talk to Diane if you want to get all the benefits of improving the function of your heart and lungs.
