Cardiovascular Exercise Safety Precautions
By Chad Tackett
Cardiovascular exercise has received a lot of attention
over the last 15 years as the centerpiece of physical fitness,
weight management, and cardiorespiratory (heart and lung)
health.
The terms cardiovascular exercise, cardiorespiratory
fitness and aerobic exercise are all synonymous. This kind
of exercise requires large muscle movement over a sustained
period of time, elevating your heart rate to at least 50%
of maximum level. Examples include walking, jogging, biking,
swimming, and any other repetitious activity that can be
performed over an extended period of time.
Cardiovascular exercise has numerous benefits. They include
a decreased blood pressure, increased HDL (good) cholesterol
(high-density lipoproteins responsible for removing LDL
(bad) cholesterol from the cells in the arteries and transporting
it back to the liver for removal from the body), decreased
LDL cholesterol, decreased body fat, decreased glucose-stimulated
insulin secretion (this increases capillary density and
blood flow to active muscles), increased heart and lung
function and efficiency, and decreased anxiety, tension,
and depression.
All of these benefits combine to help lower your risk of
cardiovascular disease by reducing risk factors like obesity,
hypertension, and high blood cholesterol. In addition, cardiovascular
exercise serves as a foundation for the activities of daily
living, sports, and other outdoor activities. Activities
such as tennis, golf, skiing, dancing, basketball, volleyball,
boxing, hiking, and strength training programs all benefit
from cardiovascular exercise. Your enjoyment of day-to-day
and physical activities will also greatly benefit because
you will have more stamina, less fatigue and less risk of
injury. However, there are several precautions you should
take to help maximize exercise safety. |
