IT’S THE MATTER OF YOUR HEART
In the stressful life of today, there is an urgent need to be fit. For your heart's sake, you need to chalk out and follow a fitness regime that will ensure good health for you at all times, says Neeru Dhingra, a renowned fitness consultant.
Want to lose weight? The most important type of exercise you need to include in your fitness regime is cardiovascular exercise. This means you are going to exercise the heart and lungs. This can be done by walking, jogging, cycling, rowing, swimming, aerobics, cross-training or even dancing.
The basic aim is to increase your pulse rate to a certain level for a certain amount of time. To figure out the pulse rate, that you should achieve (for a moderate exerciser), just subtract your age from 220 and divide by 70-75%. This will give you the range/ level at which you should exercise. And if you're not a person having mathematical acumen to figure all this out, simply ensure that you carry on a conversation while doing that particular exercise. Don't be huffing & puffing or grasping for air and also don't be walking at such a slow pace where all you're doing is talking! You got to make some effort.
Try to sustain your stipulated pulse rate for 30 minutes, three times a week initially and gradually increase to 40 minutes. In the long run, this will increase your stamina/ energy levels and BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol level. BMR is the rate at which you expand energy at rest. Can any medicine be as effective or free of side effects as this?
Cardiovascular exercise or endurance training will increase your stroke volume (that is the amount of blood pumped by the heart in one beat). This will, in turn, reduce your resting pulse rate. Normal resting pulse rate for adults is between 60-80 beats per minute. The lower your resting pulse rate, the better it is.
Tip: It is better to sustain a moderate heart rate for a longer duration of time than to increase the intensity/ level of exercise for a shorter while. So run, jog, swim, cycle or dance- just get your heart going and feel great.
Courtesy: Life Matterz
