The Herron Chronicles #4

Cardio-Respiratory Endurance

Activities that develop cardio-respiratory endurance contribute directly to weight loss. When done properly, they are very effective in burning calories and stored fat. To improve cardio-respiratory endurance, use activities that keep your heart rate elevated at a safe and appropriate level for a sustained period of time. Examples include walking, jogging, running, swimming, rowing, spinning, or bicycling. The key is duration rather than intensity, although intensity should be adjusted upward with increased fitness levels. Start slowly with an activity you enjoy, and gradually work up to a more intense pace and longer duration. 

When I began, I started walking and gradually increased my duration to about 45 - 50 minutes and about 3 miles per day, every day. Walk briskly at a fairly rapid pace -- do not "stroll." I suggest being able to count at least 120 paces per minute. As my fitness level improved, walking no longer was sufficient to elevate my heart rate, so I gradually incorporated some jogging, and then running. Eventually, I was running the entire distance, or more, that previously I had only walked. I used an outdoor track at a local school, an indoor track, and treadmills at the YMCA. Before joining the Y, I used the indoor track at Green High School, and ran laps until I was running 3 - 5 miles per day, five days per week. After I had run my laps, I ran up and down stairs several times. I also mixed in a variety of basic calisthenics, doing several sets of pushups, sit-ups, and other basic calisthenics in between laps around the track. 

You need to exercise at a level of intensity that allows you to achieve your target heart rate and maintain that rate for a period of time. Target heart rate is that heart rate at which the body reaches 65 - 85% of its maximum capacity during strenuous exercise. Work carefully within you limits and increase intensity/duration gradually. For more detailed information than can be reproduced here, including how to calculate your target heart rate, see the following website:

www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/activity/thr.htm

Know Yourself

When you're going to work out, it's important to know yourself or, more precisely, to know your body. Know your strengths and your weaknesses. Don't let the problems stop you, but learn to work with or around them. 

I've mentioned that I have arthritis. There are things I could do -- ways I could move -- twenty years ago that I doubt I will ever be able to do again. Not without surgery, drugs or divine intervention. But when it comes to working out, I have learned to listen to my body. If I can't do a particular exercise, I either alter it in some way to accommodate my existing capabilities or move on to a different exercise that will accomplish the same thing. Trial and error. 

Working out can involve discomfort, especially when you haven't been physically active in awhile. You need to ease into it. Start slowly and build. You may surprise yourself once you've been at it for a week or two -- your endurance will improve. But don't hurt yourself by being overly zealous in your fitness quest. Work out smart. It's ok, even necessary, to push yourself. But do it little by little, allowing your body to gain strength as you gain confidence and determination. 

For women, I highly recommend the book Do It Right (The 75 Best Body-Sculpting Exercises for Women) by the publishers of Shape Magazine. You can find it on Amazon.com or on the website for Shape Magazine. This book offers 75 exercises -- some you can do at the gym and some you can do at home. I work out at home, using a stability ball, free weights, a resistance band with handles, and a Pilates resistance ring. Most of the exercises I do come from this book. I like it because there are descriptions and illustrations of the right way AND the wrong way to do each one. This will help you avoid accidentally hurting yourself by doing moves incorrectly. 

So start gradually -- but start!