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Exercises
Interactive
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is any repetitive activity that works the heart and lungs - this usually involves the large muscles in your legs, backside, chest and back.
The word aerobic literally means 'with air', as during exercise your body needs to take in extra oxygen. Aerobic exercise is activity that makes you breathless but can be sustained for prolonged periods. It helps develop your heart, lungs and blood vessels, making them more efficient in delivering oxygen around your body.
Examples of aerobic exercise are:
running
climbing stairs
cycling.
Endurance running is particular good for developing aerobic capacity since you begin to form more small blood vessels which increase oxygen transport to the muscles and create greater efficiency in the heart and lungs. The greater your aerobic capacity the longer you can delay the onset of lactic acid.
Until recently, experts have recommended that adults exercise for about 30 minutes each day. Most people have taken this to mean 30 minutes of continuous exercise, but some studies suggest that three 10-minute sessions could provide similar health and psychological benefits. However, people who opt for shorter exercise bursts should make sure that their workout is sufficiently long to increase the heart rate.
