Seniors need aerobic exercise just like everyone else. But, special care must be taken to keep impact low.
Aerobic exercises — such as running, walking, swimming, cycling and dancing — cause the heart to beat faster and breath to come more rapidly. Low-impact aerobic activities spare the joints and muscles, without the jarring and pounding of high-impact exercises such as jogging and jumping rope.
Weight alone is not enough to determine health.
ARE you one of the “lucky ones?” Slipping off your shoes and stepping on the scales in the doctor’s office doesn’t scare you one bit, you can eat whatever you want, stuff yourself silly on sweets, snack on chips and pies and all things deep fried, break all the rules and never gain an ounce?
Your height to weight ratio always measures out just perfect, and your body mass index (BMI) is right where it should be, between 20 and 25. So you’re all good … right? Well, not necessarily. When it comes to fitness, that old motherly adage rings true: looks can, indeed, be deceiving.
And so can weight.
Read the Aerobics and Fitness Daily pole dancing review guide.
Use the “Physical Activity Pyramid” to help you get into shape.
By now, most people have at least heard of or seen the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, which is designed to help people follow an easy, yet healthy and realistic nutritional plan. Well Charles Corbin, Ph.D., exercise and wellness professor at Arizona State University — east in Mesa, has similarly created a physical activity pyramid designed to encourage individuals to meet their weekly exercise goals in an uncomplicated manner.
Does the Curves 30-minute workout for women produce results?
“Curves can be great for novices,” says Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D., chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. “It’s a very comfortable, nonthreatening atmosphere.”
However, Bryant cautions, the Curves workout — a 30-minute machine circuit interspersed with cardio activity such as marching in place — primarily offers strength-training, rather than cardiovascular, benefits. “It’s a bit of an overstatement to say you don’t need to supplement a Curves-type workout with aerobic conditioning,” Bryant says. “Circuit training will cause improvements in aerobic capabilities, but they tend to be rather small.”
