Ok. I must admit, this topic is probably the most influential topic I educate my patients about. As a physical therapist, I usually treat a specified region of the body. I know that aerobic exercise is the piece of the puzzle that helps my folks over the hump. Aerobic exercise addresses the body systems that focus on endurance, improving overall activity tolerance, muscle strength and cardiovascular efficiency, promoting new cell growth, and developing new blood vessels in the entire body.
What is Aerobic Exercise? The following is a Statement From The Cleveland Clinic from 2019:
Aerobic exercise provides cardiovascular conditioning. The term aerobic actually means “with oxygen,” which means that breathing controls the amount of oxygen that can make it to the muscles to help them burn fuel and move.
Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
- Improves cardiovascular conditioning.
- Decreases risk of heart disease.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Increases HDL or “good” cholesterol.
- Helps to better control blood sugar.
- Assists in weight management and/or weight loss. (We’ll elaborate on this later in the article…)
- Improves lung function.
- Decreases resting heart rate.
How to Properly Implement Aerobic Exercise in Daily Living
The next question you are probably asking yourself is how intense should exercise be to be considered moderate-intensity ‘aerobic exercise’? Multiple global health organizations, such as the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, advise that your ‘aerobic exercise’ should be done at 60-85% of your heart rate max. What does that mean?
With all of the Desire Wellness exercise programs, we thoroughly educate our customers on proper intensity when participating in aerobic exercise. We always make it simple for you. In this instance, when you involve yourself in a prolonged state of aerobic exercise, use the Talk Test*. The Talk Test is commonly used in formal physical therapy practice to verify you are at the proper intensity level when doing aerobic exercise. No calculators and equations to follow to find the proper range.
You want to feel like you’re working at about 4-5/10 intensity, which means if you scale your intensity level as 0, meaning no work at all, and 10 being the most work you can imagine doing, you want to be at a 4-5/10 intensity level. You want to be able to participate in physical activity where you can carry a conversation with someone next to you, you are not short of breath, and you still feel like you are working. The Talk Test is just that simple. This is especially useful for beginners. If you are in great shape already, you will want to formally calculate your heart rate max range at 60-85%.
How Often Should You Participate in Aerobic Activities?
My patients often ask me which aerobic activities is best. Every time I explain to them whatever it is that you enjoy doing! Walking your dog, gardening, walking on the treadmill and participating in your usual daily tasks.
My own mother hates a formal exercise routine, though she is VERY active. She operates her horse ranch in southern California. I tell her to participate with consistent work on the ranch following the aforementioned intensity levels. Start conservatively. 5 minutes, working to 10 minutes, working up to 30 minutes daily. Ultimately I recommend 3 to 5 days per week of 30-minute sessions of regular exercise with your desired activity at this intensity level. It’s just that easy. Try it for a couple of weeks; you’ll feel an immediate improvement in your energy levels. Your energy levels will skyrocket.
How About Losing Weight? Will Aerobic Exercise Aid in Losing Weight and Increasing Your Metabolism?
Aerobic exercise has many health benefits and will naturally boost your metabolism without you having to try to lose body fat. A common ratio often used in the medical industry is the B.M.I. ratio. This acronym stands for basal metabolic index. This is basically taking your height divided by your weight to come up with a very generalized number to calculate your overall health and risk for disease. Use the following link to visit the Centers for Disease Control’s website and see what your BMI is and see where you are in your overall health, especially heart health, and risk for disease:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html
Do you need to lower your BMI? Our weight loss and nutrition program allows you to do just that. With personalized coaching and helping you every step of the way, Dr. Emily will personally guide you through the usual trials and tribulations often found when trying to lose weight. As a doctoral-trained weight loss coach, the program is personalized and tailored to YOU. Not the all too often seen programs that point you in a direction and say, “good luck.” Along with personalized coaching, she will safely transition you to a good long-term food intake program tailored specifically for YOU. Click below to schedule a free consultation to see if she can help you lower your body weight, thus improving your BMI number, placing you in a more healthy index, lowering your risk for disease, and aiding you to optimize your quality of life and even your mental health. She works with adults of all ages and helps them achieve a healthy lifestyle.
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