Types of Aerobic Training

There are three different types I wanted to talk about today and cover the basics, which will then give you some options to try something new and freshen up your cardiovascular routine.

Long slow duration training (LSD)

A long distance runner is typically a great example of LSD type training, low intensity 65-70% VO2Max and anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours plus. LSD can be a great way of developing an aerobic based line for beginners and de-conditioned athletes. LSD is defiantly the average gym goer's choice for aerobic training. Think

aerobic classes
spin classes
your 10 minutes of each CV machine
Interval training- This form of training enables the body to use to different types of energy systems the aerobic like the LSD system uses and also the anaerobic energy system; the anaerobic system uses anything from 80-100% VO2Max which is pretty tough let's use a sprinter as an example they cover 100meters over 10 or so seconds.

Aerobic - long distance, high duration

Anaerobic - Shorter distance, slow duration
Interval training it involves structured periods of work and recovery, so we will use the sprinter as the work phase and a long distance runner as the rest phase.

Example - 2 minutes LSD, 200 meters Sprints - and repeat 20 minutes

Remember when working at such a high intensity the lactic system will also come into play and provide missing energy and you may give you a burning feeling, and it will increase your heart rate and raise you blood pressure. You'll have to be conditioned in the aerobic system and have a good base level.

Fartlek training

What do you get when you mix interval and LSD training together and then randomize them?! Fartlek training is just that, a Swedish term meaning "Speed play" it's a give you the chance to play with different speeds and distances using an unstructured manner. So you could be jogging one minute and sprinting the very next second with a walk to recover. The trick is to do whatever comes into your head at the time making a split second decision.

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Try A Water Rowing Machine For The Best Workout Ever

Anyone that swims knows that water can be a great form of resistance for those who want an aerobic exercise and resistance training at once. Rowing machines are great pieces of workout equipment, and a water rowing machine can mean aerobic activity, resistance training, and overall toning in one.

Using a water rowing machine is a lot like rowing in real life. The faster you go, the more resistance you'll get from the water. This also means that you can go slower if your level of physical fitness calls for it. Because you're seated at all times, there is no impact which is good news for those who have problems with their ankles, knees and hips.

Rowing machines imitate the action of rowing a boat. Have you ever seen a sculling race that is very popular with the collages in England? As you watch you will see the rowers sliding back and forth in there chairs as they row with the oars. This back and forth movement with the lower body along with the rowing action of the upper body provides a total body workout. This is has been long acknowledged as one of the best types of exercise available.

Some might question the benefit of a water rowing machine, thinking that they just can't get the same workout they do with a treadmill or elliptical machine. Many people assume that in order to get a good workout you need to be standing up. However, with a water rowing machine you are working virtually every muscle in your body at the same time. You push off with your legs and use your entire upper body for the rowing action.

You are getting the aerobic workout when you go faster and are getting resistance training for all your muscle groups as well. The back of your legs from your feet to your lower back is getting resistance training. But with a water rowing machine you are also stretching your entire body as well. Physical therapists use these machines quite frequently as the patient is working all their joints and tendons without putting addition stress on them. Some who use a water rowing machine report feeling stretched and even relaxed after a workout.

Some may also hesitate to think of using a water rowing machine in their own home, worried about water getting on their floor or about the weight of such a piece of equipment. In reality they are constructed in such a way that they're more watertight than most waterbeds and while they may be a little heavy when they're full, the water tank of most models of water rowing machines removes easily so you can empty it when you need to move the machine. They're usually no heavier than a good humidifier.

Consider the great workout that you get with a water rowing machine it's no wonder that many are using this as the main aerobic equipment they have at home and many gyms are adding them to their areas as well. If you're looking for a great piece of equipment for your own home that offers everything you could want when working out - aerobic training, resistance training, and overall stretching and toning - then why not give one a try?

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Extreme Cardio For Weight Loss

You don't have to do cardio for weight loss at all. None. Shocking, isn't it? We've been told so many times you have to cardio, aerobics, and cardio in the fat burn zone in order to burn fat. But the truth? You have to control your diet. How you burn calories for weight loss is less important.

The latest research from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has shown that an 8-week cardio program (3 sessions per week of 40 minutes per session) did not result in any fat loss! On the other hand, the interval training group in the same study lost several pounds.

Traditional cardio is a waste of time. Inefficient, and possibly ineffective. You are much better focusing on your proper fat loss nutrition and strength and interval workouts.

And you certainly don't have to do extreme amounts of cardio. But some people end up taking their fat loss activities to extremes. Making unhealthy, ineffective, and excessive choices.

For example, one reader emailed me about the 7 hours of cardio she did per week. She wondered why she wasn't losing ANY fat. That is an extreme amount of slow and steady cardio. Something I would never advise for a fat loss program. And she still wanted to do more!

I told her absolutely not. If 7 hours per week does't work for you, why would more? With that mentality, you'll end up spending every single non-working waking minute doing cardio. What kind of life is that?

Another reader wrote in about the pitfalls of her excessively low calorie diet...

"I'm on the weight loss track again. I found I wasn't eating enough calories (1000 kcal/day). Filling up on veggies is good (and I love them), but they don't have the calories. Eating walnuts/almonds helped get me there. Eating 1500+ is where I need to stay to lose weight and keep my energy up. I've dropped about 3 pounds this week."

Inside most people, there is going to be the urge to do more, eat less, or obsess even further about food and exercise when you are trying to reach a fitness or fat loss goal.

But taking eating and working out to the extremes is more often counterproductive, and in the long-run, downright unhealthy.

And the unfortunate thing is that the reader that emailed me about her 7 hours of ineffective aerobic training, was skeptical of the strength and interval workouts, because she didn't think it contained enough cardio.

But really, how much could be enough for this woman? 7 hours wasn't getting her any results. What did she want? 10 hours?

We need to understand that cardio is not the be-all and end-all of fat loss programs. There are many ways to burn fat and calories, not just by spending 60 minutes on an elliptical machine.

All you need are 3 workouts per week of 45 minutes per session. Do 20 minutes of total body strength training followed by 20 minutes of interval training. Then spend the rest of your week staying active through fun activities and focusing on whole, natural foods for your fat loss nutrition. No more extreme cardio!

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Fitness Circuit Training

Fitness circuit training will take you through a series of exercise stations, with short rest periods between each station. The amount of stations can range 4 to 10.

Traditionally, circuit training programs were developed to increase muscular endurance and included exercises to help improve muscular endurance such as the bench press, push-ups, leg press and sit-ups.

A circuit would consist of 4 to 10 stations with a low impact aerobic warm-up and cool-down station (you might use a stationary bike). The exercise stations could be set-up using free weights and/or weight machines that train one muscle at a time.

An example of circuit training exercises using your environment is par course exercise training. This style intersperses jogging or walking with numerous strength, flexibility and muscular endurance exercises.

Aerobic circuit training for women is particularly very popular. Four to eight aerobic exercise stations are used with one to five minutes per station with a 15-30 second rest between stations, this is considered one circuit. The different stations will be set up with stationary cycling, elliptical rider, treadmill, stair climbing on a stair master at a moderate pace and the use of a rowing machine.

It will depend on the number of stations that are set-up but the number of circuits completed usually adds up to 20 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise.

One thing to remember that will help you to be successful is to not train to failure at each station. What I mean by this is when the appointed time is coming to an end for that station, you should be able to complete the designated time with out having exhausted yourself.

You should be training some where between 50 percent and 70 percent of your functional capabilities

When participating in circuit training you will notice an increase in strength, improved muscular and aerobic endurance and last but not least weight loss.

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Cross Training Strategies

Cross training involves a training routine that incorporates several different forms of exercise. A cross training machine allows you to exercise various muscle groups throughout your body and provides flexibility and variety. Cross training is very beneficial if you would like to increase and improve your overall fitness levels and attain a very high standard of fitness. It is also suitable for people who are easily bored and like variety when they exercise.

Starting Fresh With Each Activity

Just because you are a highly effective runner or cyclist, does not automatically mean you will be able to immediately excel and train hard when you switch to a new or different sport or activity. Essentially, being in outstanding shape does not necessarily guarantee ultimate fitness in every sport. Begin with your new exercise carefully and gradually increase your endurance levels. By starting slowly and increasing gradually you will maintain your motivation, enjoyment and avoid any injury.

Avoiding Fatigue

It does challenge your body and mind. It is the supreme fitness solution, however, you to need to approach this fitness approach carefully. Adding too many new activities too quickly will lead to a serious case of fitness fatigue. You may injure yourself and feel unmotivated, so go slow.

Alternating Strategies

Avoid cross training with areas that you may have already trained. For example, if you are a runner, you should exercise your arms by lifting weights and give your legs a rest. It is really just common sense, by alternating your fitness approach and strategy you will be able to target and work specific areas and then rest these areas so that the muscles can repair and renew in between training sessions.

If you consider yourself in better than average shape, cross training is a very effective way of targeting different muscle groups and developing them. It allows you to remain fresh and focused by offering variety and a different range of exercise routines. Boredom is one of the main reasons that people don't stick to their exercise routine, so it is important to mix it up whenever you can.

Cross training allows you to ensure that the stress placed on different areas of your body, or on your heart, is balanced and can be varied as required. If your body is becoming far too efficient with your usual form of exercise, then cross training can offer the perfect solution. Cross training can help you to reduce the risk of injury associated with repetitive exercise.

The main benefits of cross training include:

Enhance weight loss
Variety and Added Interest
Reduced risk of injury
Greater rest and repair time for muscle building
Increase flexibility and strength

You can choose for a wide array of different exercises and sports, however you should try to focus on achieving fitness balance. To achieve fitness balance you want to combine the elements of strength, flexibility, speed and aerobic intensity.

Cross training will strengthen your heart, improve your muscle tone, reduce your body fat and enhance your balance and coordination.

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For Diabetics and the Rest of Us, Do Both Cardio and Weights

A new study shows that people with type 2 diabetes lower their glucose levels more when they do both aerobic and weight training exercises than when they do neither or just one of these types. The research was published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Until this study was published, it was unclear what the best exercise routine was for diabetics. The study holds lessons for diabetics and non-diabetics alike.

Timothy Church MD led the nine-month study on 262 sedentary male and female patients with type 2 diabetes. He measured glycated hemoglobin, an accepted measure of how well diabetics have controlled their blood sugar over the past few months, with lower being better. His study has become known as the "Hart-D trial.

" Aerobic exercise included walking on a treadmill for about 150 minutes per week at a moderate pace. Resistance training included working out three days per week with upper body, leg, abdomen, and back exercises. The combination training program included only two days of resistance training per week to keep the total exercise time consistent in all three groups. Therefore, each of the three groups spent about total 140 minutes in exercises each week.

The authors of the study concluded that, although both aerobic and resistance training provide benefits of themselves, only the combination of the two seemed to reduced levels of glycated hemoglobin. In addition, fewer of the people in the combination exercise group needed to increase the amount of medications they required to control their disease. All three of the groups reduced their waists by 1.5 to 2.8 centimeters. Fat mass was reduced by 3 pounds in the resistance training group and 3.7 pounds in the combination training group. But only participants in the combination group were significantly more likely than those in the control group to get to the point where they could decrease hypoglycemic medications or reduce glycated hemoglobin levels.

"We really thought that the walking group and the combination group would be similar, but the combination group was the only group that had significant improvement. They reduced their [glycated hemoglobin] levels, while also reducing the amount of diabetes medications," said Dr. Church, who is director of preventive medicine research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge.

With obesity and the onset on type 2 diabetes rampant in the United States, the Church study holds lessens for everyone who is concerned with their health. Experts' advice for avoiding diabetes tends to mirror that for treating it. This can be summarized as "lose weight, avoid simple carbohydrates, such as sugar and white bread, and exercise regularly." Now this exercise can be defined as doing both aerobic exercises, as on a treadmill, and weight resistance exercises.

Church's study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Its results were published in the November 24, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. See "Effects of Aerobic and Resistance Training on Hemoglobin A1c Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes - A Randomized Controlled Trial" Church, Blair, et al.,JAMA. 2010;304(20):2253-2262. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.1710

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Aerobic, Anaerobic Or Just Exercise

So we can be healthier and more energetic, we decide to get fit, eat right, work out...all of it. Then, just as we're getting started, trying to find out what to do, people throw out technical terms we don't understand. Words like aerobic and anaerobic confuse us and make us feel like we're not smart enough to be healthy. If I've just described you, this article will tell you what the words mean and why, in most cases, they don't matter.

What Is Aerobic Exercise? Aerobic means 'with air'. When a workout routine is aerobic, your body can replenish the needed oxygen (air) to the muscles being exercised. Aerobic exercise is good for heart, lungs, immunity, lower blood pressure, cellular health and helps prevent or control major diseases (like diabetes, cancer, atherosclerosis, asthma, emphysema, sciatica, constipation, etc).

Aerobic exercise is the easiest and the most beneficial. If you feel you need to choose between anaerobic and aerobic exercise, choose aerobic. It's as simple and inexpensive as taking a fast walk 3-5 days per week. Other types of aerobic workouts include swimming, jogging, stationary bike riding, rowing, aerobic dancing (jazzercise), and lifting light weights, quickly. In order to get the full aerobic value, the activity should be sustained for 30 minutes total. Imagine that...2-3 hours per week could add as much as 15 healthy years to your life and make the other years much healthier and productive.

What Is Anaerobic Exercise? Anaerobic means the workout is so strenuous it uses oxygen faster than your body can replenish it. An anaerobic workout is any program that is very strenuous, lifting heavy weights, for example. Other anaerobic exercises include sprinting, climbing, long jump, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts, squat thrusts, etc. Anaerobic workouts build muscle and are needed so you can perform heavy jobs, like lifting things, running away from danger, take a steep hike, etc. It also helps with the symptoms of some diseases (like arthritis and osteoporosis). Some people use it to get that rugged, buff look, but I'm jealous of them.

Aerobic And Anaerobic Exercise Equipment: Aerobic equipment comes in all shapes, sizes and price ranges, the cheapest and easiest is a pair of walking or cross-training shoes for your aerobic walk. Some of the mid-range fitness equipment includes stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, stair-steppers, etc. You can get really expensive, with electronically assisted equipment that simulates uphill climbs and monitors your blood pressure, heart rate, calories burned, along with charting your whole routine and uploading to computer. For me, I'll take the walks!

There are many types of anaerobic exercise equipment on the market at all price ranges. Some examples are dumb bells, free weights, home gyms, thigh and abdominal workout equipment. If you're on a really tight budget, you can buy bungee cords or medical tubing and make your own anaerobic exercise equipment. Frankly, you could use a stick attached to 2, 2-litre bottles of water for various weight lifting workouts.

Whatever type you do, Choosing The Right Exercise Apparel is important to prevent injury. Whether your preferred workout is aerobic or anaerobic, if you want more equipment but don't want to spend the money, go to garage sales. I guarantee you will find a wide variety of almost new equipment at less than a tenth of the new price.

Just Exercise: For the fitness goals of most of us, any workout is good exercise. Both aerobic and anaerobic workouts burn calories, reduce blood sugar, and are useful for weight loss. Both types help with overall fitness. As opposed to no exercise, any workout improves heart, lungs...the whole body. Any routine started slowly and built up over time will safely achieve a healthy lifestyle. The most important thing is that your exercise routine be easy to do and not a dreaded chore. Whatever program you choose, make sure it's something you could do regularly to keep in shape. If you make it fun enough to do it regularly, you don't even need to know whether it's aerobic or anaerobic...you just need to do it.

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