Thursday, September 10, 2009

What Aerobic fitness Can Do For You

By Sarah Gardner

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.

How is Aerobic Fitness Defined?

Basically, aerobic fitness means: The level of effort which will make your muscles get extra oxygen, allowing the muscles to put forth more exertion.

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.

If you strive to bring your level of aerobic fitness up, gasping for air when you go about everyday activities will soon be a distant memory.

How Can I Bring Up My Aerobic Fitness Level?

The way to get more aerobically fit is very simple: increase your level of aerobic exercise. This does not mean heavy duty or high impact exercise: on the contrary! You can actually begin by simply walking. It is quite possible to walk for fitness and achieve a much younger and healthier look.

It is important to make your walking pace rapid enough to get the muscles working, but not so fast that you can't breathe. A good guideline is that you ought to be able to speak, but not able to deliver a speech without pausing, for example.

Many find that listening to music through an MP3 player or walkman is a good way to keep them moving. Also, lots of people have found that having a walking group or a walking buddy helps to keep the enjoyment of aerobic exercise fresh and to add motivation since others are depending on you.

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.

For the people who really do not enjoy aerobic exercise, but do it since they know about the health benefits, they often find ways to multi-task while they exercise. Reading books or magazines, watching TV, or speaking on the phone may be some things that will help to pass the time as you walk the treadmill.

There is absolutely no doubt about it: improving your aerobic fitness will make you look younger and feel younger too!

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