There are many health benefits to doing a regular daily aerobic workout. Taking part in any type of aerobic exercise greatly improves a person's health and fitness levels and of course, it can also be effective in weight loss since different types of aerobic activities help to burn more calories and for that reason can be combined with a healthy diet to produce even more health benefits. The term 'aerobics' means 'with oxygen' since you take in oxygen when you breathe and when you are exercising your breathing is faster and you feel quite warm and sweaty when you are working out as a result of taking in more air. This type of workout is extremely good for the heart and helps in delivering oxygen to different parts of the body.
What Type of Activities are Aerobic Workouts?
Aerobic activity can involve any type of exercise that raises a person's metabolism. Some of the more popular exercises include swimming, cycling, walking, jogging, running, stair climbing and general aerobic workouts. However, any kind of activity or exercise will help to improve a person's fitness level and aid in a person's weight loss. For instance, performing household chores such as vacuuming and cleaning can also contribute towards raising a person's fitness level.
What about dancing or bouncing on a trampoline, skipping, rowing, basketball or skating? These activities are also very good at burning calories.
In other words, any type of exercise will help you to get fitter as long as you do it regularly and it does not have to involve activities that are exhausting to perform. In fact, doing regular light or moderate aerobic activities is easier to maintain and gives better results since they are more likely to be kept up than aerobic exercises that involve high intensity workouts. In any case, it is always best to start at a lower level and gradually increase your activity levels when you get fitter.
For a person who is new to exercising or someone who finds it difficult to get themselves motivated or stick to any form of aerobic exercise, the best place to start is with doing something you enjoy for around thirty minutes a day three to five times a week. One of the easiest aerobic exercises to perform is walking since a person can start off doing a low intensity workout that is easy to keep up and then gradually progress to a more effective type of brisk walking. The only special requirement is a reasonably good pair of walking shoes and appropriate clothing. There are many people who enjoy performing this type of activity since it doesn't really feel as though they are doing any specific kind of aerobic exercise. Many have increased their fitness levels to the point where they actually enjoy going jogging or running.
The thing to keep in mind with exercising is that any type of aerobic activity is effective as long as it is adhered to regularly and when it is performed on the right fitness level to suit the person doing the exercises.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Aerobics