Aerobic exercises cannot be missing from your agenda. And it is to dedicate a few hours a week it is considered essential to keep fit both physically and mentally.
Know what aerobic exercises are, how to practice them, what are all their benefits and others things you need to know before including them in your training:
List of aerobic exercises
Aerobic exercises are characterized by stimulate the heart rate and accelerate breathing for a long time (at least 30 minutes). In this way, unlike anaerobic, this type of exercise requires a constant supply of energy. The body gets this energy from fat, oxygen, and carbohydrates.
Running
Running is the most popular aerobic exercise. Maybe because it can be done practically anywhere or simply because it is really addictive. Leaving a sedentary lifestyle behind can be difficult, but once you get the hang of it, the tricky part is going without your 30 minutes (or more) of daily running.
Walk
To put this exercise into practice, you only need to have suitable footwear. If the distance to work is adequate, you can go on foot and thus take advantage of the journey to do aerobic exercise. You can walk outdoors (both in the countryside and in the city), but also on treadmills. To be efficient it is important to make sure your heart rate increases. Get there by lightening your pace and climbing steep areas.
Gym machines
Elliptical bike, exercise bike, treadmill ... Gyms offer many good options for practicing aerobic exercises indoors. A good idea to shelter from the cold and rain during the winter.
Cycling
Cycling is a great aerobic exercise. But a simple walk may not be enough to get the heart rate you need. Pedal faster or through steep areas. If your breathing is racing it means that you are doing well.
Swimming
If your knees don't go well with running, consider swimming. The reason is that water buoyancy is kinder to the joints than hard asphalt.
Continuous or interval training?
Continuous training is one that maintains the same level of effort for 20-60 minutes without resting. In contrast, interval training alternates stretches of intense activity and active recovery. If they take the form of a graph, the continuous method would be a straight line, while the interval method would describe a series of peaks.
It is considered that, thanks to the fact that the forces are renewed between the efforts, in interval training you work more, and therefore more progress is made. An example is sprinting for three minutes, walking for one minute, and repeating. You can also set the duration of each interval based on your feelings at all times.
Likewise, breaks in long workouts prevent aerobic exercises from becoming anaerobic. This is because they allow the heart rate to return to the aerobic range.
Benefits of cross training
Why limit yourself to just one when you can have them all? Cross training or cross-training combines different aerobic exercises. For example, swimming on Mondays, cycling on Wednesdays and running on Fridays.
Cross training helps work more muscles and in more directions. In this way, a more complete training is achieved while preventing injuries. Also, since practicing the same exercise always tends to be monotonous, it is considered to help you keep motivation high.
Benefits of aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise helps you live longer and better. And it is that it has a positive impact on key aspects of health. Including your chosen workout in a healthy lifestyle will help you:
- Control weight
- Prevent diseases (obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes ...)
- Manage chronic diseases (hypertension, high blood sugar levels ...)
- Reduce bad cholesterol levels (LDL) and raise good cholesterol (HDL)
- Strengthen the heart
- Delay cognitive decline
- Increase stamina
- Improve mood and improve certain mental conditions, such as depression and anxiety
Frequency
To feel all its benefits, it is advised to be generous with both the frequency and the duration of the workouts. Ideally, you should do aerobic exercises most days of the week. On the other hand, it is very important to include rest days to prevent the detrimental effects of overtraining.
Combine them with strength exercises
Working regularly on the creation and strengthening of muscles (squats, push-ups, lifting weights ...) is key to overall better fitness.
Combine strength exercises with your aerobic exercises (it can be the same day or on different days). Strengthening your muscles will help you delay the onset of fatigue and prevent injuries.