Home

Crunchy Coach Blog

Eat to Live

Go Green

Crunchy Parenting

Healthy Home

Happy Mind

Fit and Beautiful

Natural Healing

Article Index

About

Contact

Cardiovascular Fitness For All Ages

How much cardiovascular fitness does a body require in order to have the healthiest heart possible? The answer, not surprisingly, depends on who you ask. However, most experts in the field of exercise agree that everyone should get their heart rate above normal at least a few times every week.

Everyone. Whether you're 20, 40, or 80, your body was designed to move, and your heart needs exercise.

How does cardiovascular fitness benefit me?

Here are just a few reasons, backed by research, to make yourself break a sweat (from the book Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age by Vonda Wright, M.D.):

Physically fit people live longer than sedentary people.
Exercise dramatically reduces the risk of developing diabetes, as well as the risk of a diabetic dying of heart disease.
Regular exercise lowers your blood pressure.
Fitness improves cognitive function and mood.
People who exercise regularly experience fewer sick days.

How does the simple act of moving do all that? When you raise your level of activity, your muscles become depleted in oxygen and begin to pull oxygen from the blood. Needing to replace that oxygen, your body mechanisms cause you to breathe harder and your heart to pump faster.

In the process, your heart gets stronger and more efficient, and your blood clears waste out of your system faster.

How do I know if I'm exercising hard enough?

There are several guidelines that you can follow to know whether you are giving your heart a healthy workout:

You break a sweat.
You can talk, but are breathing too hard to sing.
You figure out your maximum heart rate and keep your heart rate at 60-80% of that level for a sustained period of time.

I tend to follow the second guideline, and the first automatically follows. Since I'm don't compete athletically (and, quite frankly, don't need one more thing to do to), I don't worry about keeping track of my heart rate.

Does housework count?

Some studies conclude that housework can be substituted for structured aerobic exercise, like power walking or biking. But that all depends on the kind of housework and how much you do every day.

If the extent of your housecleaning is filling up a dishwasher, then forget it. You need to use a treadmill, bicycle, or your own two legs to get the exercise you need.

If you live in a 3000 square foot house and half of it is carpeted and you vacuum every other day, then, sure, count the vacuuming as your cardiovascular fitness routine.

Use your common sense.

What if I'm a senior citizen, or have been a couch potato most of my adult life?

If you don't have any underlying condition that would contraindicate aerobic exercise, such as periodic chest pains or joint problems, you can get started on a cardiovascular fitness program at any age.

Start slow. Choose an exercise you enjoy. Make sure you warm up before any vigorous activity.

And be consistent.

Dr. Wright, an orthopaedic surgeon, has a twelve-week fitness program. She has patients go from "couch potato" to walking or running a 5K marathon by the end of the program.

She also witnesses senior patients receive accelerated healing from various conditions by committing themselves to an exercise program.

May I coach you? No matter how you sedentary you have been up until now, cardiovascular fitness is well within your reach. Find a friend to hold you accountable, pick a fun activity, and get moving. Your body will thank you for it.

Need extra motivation and inspiration to get moving? Breakthrough ebook Fit Over 40 can help you change your life--and shape--for the better!

Or, try an online workout. The Workout Pass lets you take advantage of various online fitness routines, from prenatal exercises to boxing!

Discover the secrets t a vibrant, disease-free life. Click here.

Looking for resources and products to help you "green" your life and enhance your health? Visit
The Crunchy Coach Store.

From positive parenting to healthy eating to organic gardening, these e-books will enhance your natural living journey.

Seeking an effective workout routine that's helping real people?
Fit Over 40
is the ebook for you!