REDUCING YOUR RISK OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE: IMPROVING YOUR ACTIVITY LEVEL
Your body is designed so that if you regularly exert yourself a little more than usual, it responds by improving its capacity for exercise. By gradually increasing the amount of exercise you perform, you can noticeably improve your fitness level in 8 to 12 weeks.
Very strenuous exercise is not necessary to improve fitness. The total amount of exercise is more important for health than exercising at high intensities. A moderate amount of exercise, as frequently as 3 days a week, is enough to improve your fitness level. You will probably enjoy moderate activity and stay with it more faithfully than you would with overly strenuous exercise. In fact, you can gain some benefit from short periods of exercise—perhaps as short as 10 minutes— done three or more times a day.
Aerobic exercises increase your cardiovascular fitness. Aerobic activities are those in which the demand for oxygen and nourishment by the exercising muscles does not surpass the ability of the lungs and circulatory system to supply it. It consists/of continuous, rhythmic contracting of the large muscle groups.
Aerobic exercise increases the rate and depth of your breathing. Your body becomes warmer, and if you exercise long enough and vigorously enough, you will perspire. However aerobic exercises are not so inter that the need of the muscle cells oxygen exceeds their supply. This deficiency may occur with such activities as isometric exercise or weight-lifting activities that may increase muscle tone and bulk but are not clearly beneficial from a cardiovascular standpoint.
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