About Aerobic Movements

Aerobic movement refers to moderate to vigorous activities that force the heart and lungs to work harder to meet increased oxygen demand by circulating oxygen through the blood.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper first used the term "aerobics" in 1968 to quantify healthy and harmful levels of exercise. Since then, it has been used to describe activities done individually (running, cycling, swimming) as well as those performed in a group setting (dance, step, kickboxing).

  1. The Facts

    • While running on the treadmill or cutting loose in a Latin-dance class, you may have wondered if you were working hard enough to achieve the benefits of aerobic exercise. One way of determining the effectiveness of a workout is by monitoring your heart rate. To calculate this number, you first need to find your maximal heart rate---estimated by subtracting your age from 220. Most people should work at 50 to 80 percent of their maximal heart rate. So, a healthy 30-year-old should have a heart rate ranging from 95 to 152 beats per minute. To see if you are meeting this range, take your pulse for 10 seconds a few minutes into your workout and multiply it by six to reveal your beats per minute.

    Type

    • Aerobic movement is usually categorized by impact and intensity. Non-impact and low- impact activities, such as swimming, biking and inline skating, are non-weight bearing forms of exercise so they do not place excessive stress on the joints. Jogging and other activities that involve repetitive jarring, jumping, or both feet leaving the ground are classified as high-impact as the impact refers to the force placed onto the joints: ankles, knees, shoulders and wrists. Intensity refers to the heart rate. A workout can be low-impact for the joints and high-intensity in terms of the elevated heart rate during the workout.

    Benefits

    • By doing aerobic exercise on most days of the week, you can reduce your risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high levels of LDL cholesterol, stroke, osteoporosis, some cancers and viral illnesses. It can also improve your mood, sexual performance and ward off pain from fibromyalgia and arthritis.

    Risk Factors

    • Consult with your doctor before beginning an exercise program if you are over 35 and inactive or if you have any chronic diseases or have any other serious medical conditions. Performing certain activities can place extra stress on the hearts of those who have been sedentary. For example, a high number of heart attacks often occur in inactive people after shoveling snow.
      Health conditions that normaly require a modified exercise plan include high blood pressure, heart problems, family history of early strokes or heart attacks, frequent dizzy spells, extreme breathlessness and problems with bones, muscles, ligaments or tendons.

    Misconceptions

    • Not all exercise is done at an intensity or duration to be considered aerobic. A study conducted by the American Council on Exercise revealed that only a small percentage of video games designed to get people moving actually provided aerobic levels of activity. Neither do most types of Pilates and yoga classes. The intensity is not high enough to raise the heart rate significantly. Conversely, a sprint also fails to classify as aerobic. Short bursts of such intense activity work the anaerobic energy-producing system and can only be done for brief amounts of time.