Give your heart a lift.Midlife is a good time to turn our attention to our hearts. The more we can do to keep our heart healthy, the better. A healthy diet is one excellent way to achieve that goal. Aerobic exercise aerobic exercise, n sustained repetitive physical activity, such as walking, dancing, cycling, and swimming, that elevates the heart rate and increases oxygen consumption resulting in improved functioning of cardio-vascular and respiratory systems. is another. Walking, jogging, biking and swimming increase your heart rate and make you breathe deeply. But did you know that lifting weights can also help to increase your aerobic fitness aerobic fitness Clinical medicine A value obtained from exercise testing, which is expressed as either VO 2 peak–O2 consumption at peak exercise, or Wpeak ? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A study of 62 healthy adults--men and women--in Florida aged 60 to 83 were put into three groups: one performed light weight lifting weight lifting, international sport, also a training technique for athletes in other sports. From the earliest times men have lifted weights as a test of strength. , another high-intensity weight lifting and a control group that did no weight lifting at all. The light weight-lifting group performed 13 repetitions each of chest presses, overhead presses, bicep curls, seated rows, among other exercises, three times a week. After six months, the two weight-lifting groups were stronger and performed better on treadmill tests treadmill test Exercise stress test, see there . These results, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine The Archives of Internal Medicine is a bi-monthly international peer-reviewed professional medical journal published by the American Medical Association. Archives of Internal Medicine , showed that the simple act of lifting weights can boost aerobic fitness. Before you embark on an exercise program, check with your doctor. If you get the green light, the best way to start a weight-lifting routine is to consult a fitness expert or buy a day pass from your local Y and spend an hour or so with a weight-lifting instructor. You can purchase small, free weights and elastic bands at a fitness outlet for about $25. Or you can use cans of beans or small water bottles as your weights. You don't have to be in perfect shape. Many weight lifting exercises can be done while seated. Of course, aerobic activities such as hiking and jogging are key to keeping your heart healthy. The American and Canadian heart associations recommend 30 minutes of movement a day. Those minutes can be divided up into smaller segments, such as walking to the store for 10 minutes or taking the stairs at work for five--so long as they add up to 30 by the end of the day. Intensity is important too. The faster you walk, for example, the more benefit you'll derive. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Here are some suggestions on how to incorporate aerobic and weight lifting into your fitness regimen: DAY 1 Take the stairs (10 minutes), get off one stop earlier on your bus route (five minutes), walk the dog--or your partner--around the block (15 minutes). Total = 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DAY 2 Walk briskly for 30 minutes in your neighborhood. Perform 13 repetitions with three or five pound weights of the following: bicep curls, chest presses and seated rows. (See illustrations, below.) DAY 3 At lunch time, go window shopping (jargon) window shopping - A term used among users of WIMP environments like the X Window System or the Macintosh at the US Geological Survey for extended experimentation with new window colours, fonts, and icon shapes. or peruse pe·ruse tr.v. pe·rused, pe·rus·ing, pe·rus·es To read or examine, typically with great care. [Middle English perusen, to use up : Latin per-, per- your local indoor mall for 30 minutes. Added benefit comes from walking briskly--so try to keep up a good pace. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DAY 4 Pump up the tires on your bike or borrow a friend's, and take it for a 30 minute spin. Alternatively, hop on Verb 1. hop on - get up on the back of; "mount a horse" bestride, climb on, jump on, mount up, get on, mount move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" a stationary bike Stationary Bike is a short story written by Stephen King, which was originally published in the fifth edition of From the Borderlands in 2003. The story depicts the struggle of Richard Sifkitz — a commercial artist and widower — to suppress a passion for ! Perform 13 repetitions with three to five pound weights of the following: overhead press, triceps triceps, any muscle having three heads, or points of attachment, but especially the triceps brachii at the back of the upper arm. One head originates on the shoulder blade and two on the upper-arm bone, or humerus. dip, bicep curls. DAY 5 When travelling, book a hotel with a swimming pool or check out your local Y or community pool and buy a day pass. Do 15 to 30 minutes of laps. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DAY 6 Go to your nearest national park and hike a two-to-five kilometer trail. Better yet, cross-country ski a hill or two. Perform 13 repetitions of bicep curls, chest presses and seated rows. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DAY 7 Rest! You deserve it! If you can keep aerobic and weight lifting exercise up for six months, you will be well on your way to making this an integral part of your life. The best bonus of all is that you'll decrease your risk of heart disease in the years to come. Jo-Ann James, B.Ph.E, is a Medical Exercise Specialist and O.F.C. Certified Fitness Instructor fitness instructor fit n → Fitnesstrainer(in) m(f) in Toronto, Canada. She also serves as a board member of the Toronto Chapter of the Osteoporosis Society of Canada. www.vitalsteps.com |
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