Aerobics Info
General Fitness Background
Tracey Kobayashi
50 Phelan Ave, NGYM
San Francisco, CA 94112
(415)452-7311
tkobayas@ccsf.edu
PE 9A: Fit or Fat
College & Career Ed
PE 50: Fitness Center
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Exercise Variables
Frequency, Intensity, Time (duration)
Before we actually begin exercising, it's important for you to keep a few things in mind regarding exercise intensity, exertion and warning signs. First, the basics...
- How much do I need?
To maintain cardiovascular and respiratory fitness, you should accumulate about 30-60 minutes of moderate to high intensity (explained later) physical activity about three to six days each week. - How much is too much?
This one's a little tougher, since it depends on your goals. However, for general fitness maintenance, keep daily aerobic activity to 60 minutes or less, as you generally get diminishing returns for your efforts beyond that. If you work up to it, and alternate easier with more intense days, it is possible to safely do aerobic activity every day, but keep those easy days EASY (low to moderate intensity of no more than 30 minutes). - How intense should the exercise be?
Using heart rate as a guide, you should exercise at an intensity that puts you between 60-85% of your maximum HR (MHR), as measured in beats per minute (BPM). MHR = 220 - your age.- With a heart rate monitor: HR monitor should display a number between 60-85% of your MHR.
- Watch with a second hand (or digital): This one's a little trickier and less precise. First, you have to keep moving while you palpate a pulse point -- your radial on your wrist below your thumb, or carotid on the neck below the outside edge of your eye. Now, count the number of beats for six seconds and multiply that by ten to find a ballpark figure for your heart rate.
- Perceived exertion (RPE): even less accurate, but much easier to do. Exercise intensity should allow you to speak, but if you tried to sing, the effort would be too difficult without running out of breath.
- Besides those variables, what else should I do?
Your aerobic activity of 60-85% for 30-60 minutes 3-6 days per week should utilize a large number and size of muscle groups in order to achieve a systemic response (if you are REALLY unfit, then it is possible that use of fewer and smaller muscle groups could do this). Also, do things that are enjoyable to you! The best form of exercise is one you will continue doing...and this could change through the years! Experiment with different activities! Some of my favorites include hiking (and backpacking), mountain biking, climbing and paddling (kayaks mostly).
Contraindications
Of course, there are sometimes some very good reasons to sit out of an exercise session, stop a current one, or not perform a particular movement or exercise. Here are a few of them...
- If you have any kind of musculoskeletal injury which is exacerbated by the activity. If it hurts, don't do it! And you might want to see your doctor.
- If you have high risk for heart disease, such as you're over 65 and are unaccustomed to physical activity, you smoke, you're hypertensive (high blood pressure), you feel pain in your chest, you often feel faint, dizzy or lose consciousness, you've already had heart trouble. If any of these apply to you, I strongly recommend you see your doctor for a thorough examination before beginning an exercise program.
- During an exercise session, monitor how you feel. If you feel weak, faint, dizzy or disoriented, or you suddenly stop sweating, stop immediately and let me know!
Changing Intensity
Through all this, you might be wondering how you change your intensity during an aerobic exercise session. The first way is by changing the speed of the music. Since you're pretty much stuck with the tempo I choose, however, there are other ways...
- Adding a little impact can up your intensity, as well as providing some stress to the bones that can help maintain their density.
- Altering the size and depth of your low-impact moves changes the intensity. If you make larger and deeper moves, it ups intensity. Smaller, shallower movements decrease intensity.
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