1. Keep excess pounds at bay – combined with a healthy diet, aerobic exercise helps you lose weight — and keep it off.
2. Increase your stamina – aerobic exercise may make you tired in the short term. But over the long term, you’ll enjoy increased stamina and reduced fatigue.
3. Ward off viral illnesses – aerobic exercise activates your immune system. This leaves you less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.
4. Reduce your health risks – aerobic exercise reduces the risk of many conditions, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
5. Manage chronic conditions – aerobic exercise helps lower high blood pressure and control blood sugar. If you’ve had a heart attack, aerobic exercise helps prevent subsequent attacks.
6. Strengthen your heart – a stronger heart doesn’t need to beat as fast. A stronger heart also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body.
7. Keep your arteries clear – aerobic exercise boosts your high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol and lowers your low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol. The potential result? Less build up of plaque in your arteries.
8. Boost your mood – aerobic exercise can ease the gloominess of depression, reduce the tension associated with anxiety and promote relaxation.
9. Stay active and independent as you age – aerobic exercise keeps your muscles strong, which can help you maintain mobility as you get older. Aerobic exercise also keeps your mind sharp. At least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week seems to reduce cognitive decline in older adults.
10. Live longer – studies show that people who participate in regular aerobic exercise live longer than those who don’t exercise regularly.

How often should you do cardiovascular exercise and for how long?

It is recommended that the general, healthy population accumulate 150 minutes of moderate-vigorous cardiovascular activity per week. It is best to spread it out over a few days than to do it all in one or two days. This could mean that you do 10 minutes, three times a day for five days; 30 minutes, five times a week; 25 minutes, six days a week; or 50 minutes, three times a week. Find what works for you and stick with it!

What type of exercise should you be doing?

Cardiovascular exercise is any activity that increases your heart rate above normal. Common exercises to increase heart rate include walking, jogging, biking, rowing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, swimming, exercise machines, dancing and aerobics. Strength training is not typically considered cardiovascular exercise, however, some strength training programs are designed to increase heart rate and therefore provide cardiovascular benefits.

If you are starting out and have never done purposeful exercise a day in your adult life, then you are not likely to go out and run 42km. However, you may start with walking a specific distance a few times a week, then gradually build on that. Forget the all-or-nothing attitude toward fitness!! It only sets you up to ride the yo-yo exercise train and increases your risk of injury. Go slow and grow!

Tips for cardiovascular exercise:

• Keep a good, positive attitude!!
• ALWAYS maintain proper form: shoulders back, chest lifted, core engaged.
• Control your breathing: breathe into your diaphragm (just below your chest), keep a rhythmic breath (ie. 2 counts in, 2 counts out).
• Start with a minimum 5- to 10-minute warm-up to get the blood flowing to the tissues, then gradually increase intensity.
• Cool down after your workout to bring your heart rate closer to a relaxed state.
• Stretch after your cooldown.
• Put it in your schedule. Treat it like an appointment. DO NOT CANCEL!!