How to Get Started With Water Aerobic Exercises

We received an email a while ago which really touched a nerve, it read:

"I am concerned about my Fitness and Health. I do not work set hours so find it hard to get motivated or take the first step towards contacting the local gym. Because I am embarrassed about my weight and size I prefer to do my fitness and health program behind, shall we say, closed doors. I do not want to be pushing weights or running on a treadmill when other people are around. What other types of exercise do you recommend for someone who is 46 years old, has not done a great deal of physical exercise for years and who basically looks like the Michelin Man?"

Our advice to this man was to make an appointment to see us so that we could assess his fitness and health levels. Before undertaking any sort of exercise program it is very important that it is done under medical supervision or, if the person has a clean bill of health, then we can guide him or her with the right choice of exercise.

In the 46 year old's case, he had been to see his doctor and was told he should lose some weight and embark on a fitness and health exercise program. He was pre-diabetic so it was important that he changed his diet and his doctor was able to provide good solid dietary information for him.

We suggested low impact exercises and to help get his fitness and health levels up initially, it was decided that he should do water aerobics three times a week. The physical benefits of water aerobic exercise range from tangible results like weight loss to benefits that are not tangible, like improving blood circulation and heart function, plus the health of your cardiovascular system in general.

Because water buoyancy supports about 90% of your body weight, there is less risk of injury, especially to ligaments and the lower body and leg joints.

Exercising can also improve your immune system and studies have found that people who regularly do exercise have a much lower chance of contracting infectious diseases such as colds and flu.

Water aerobic exercise can also help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and cancer. Water aerobic exercise will also improve your general strength while muscle weakness can also affect the strength of your bones.

Water aerobic exercise trains your heart to pump more oxygen rich blood throughout your body.

Most strokes are caused by blood clots making their way into your brain. Regular water aerobic exercises help keep your blood from clotting in your blood vessels.

Fitness and Health Ideas say if you are just starting out with water aerobics, you might be feeling overwhelmed or frightened, especially if you are a non-swimmer. It is true that there are many ways to work out and your fitness and health depends on how hard you work out and move your body, legs and arms. This fast pace causes your heart and lungs to work harder than when you are at rest. Begin your water aerobic exercises with walking on the spot or back and forth in the pool, then try jogging followed by moving your arms up and down. The point of water aerobic exercises is to get your heart and lungs going and the best way to do this is to keep moving like walking, jogging, jumping jacks, moving your arms up and down, from left to right for as many repetitions as you can. This is the best way to start your water aerobic training because you are able to work your way up from nothing to advance classes where you can add weights to your arms, feet and even try placing a basket ball under water, performing a cycling motion using a noodle and all the time your body is getting fitter and healthier. To help keep you motivated you can do your water aerobic exercises to your favourite music or work out a routine to suit the beat of the music.

In water aerobics the combination of routine is limitless and there is something for everyone, even a non-swimmer.

Just standing in neck deep water stimulates circulation, there is a soothing effect on the muscles, the heart in fact recovers more quickly from exertion because it is not working against the force of gravity. The water exercise includes 15 minutes of warming up and ends with 15 minutes of cooling down with ? hour of jogging and exercises in between.

Water Temperature

Water temperature should be between 82? - 85?. Water that is too warm can make you feel sick, whereas colder water can cause pain in stiff or arthritic joints. If you fear water, wear a flotation device and stay in the shallow part of the pool.

Different Strokes

For calorie burning, stroke matters. A 123 pound woman swimming side stroke will burn 68 calories in 10 minutes while a 170 pound man will burn 90 calories. The same woman burns 95 calories with a slow crawl or backstroke and the man, 130 calories.

The breaststroke eats up 91 calories during a 10 minute swim for the woman and 125 calories for the man.

It is amazing when I see men and women in their 80's and 90's performing water aerobics, seemingly effortlessly, yet some find it difficult to walk without some help or walking aides.

The buoyancy of the water relieves any strain on their joints so they are able to perform exercises that they otherwise would not be able to do if they weren't in a pool.

Our 46 year old has now been dieting and exercising for the past 8 weeks. Sticking to his diet and performing his water aerobic fitness and health exercise program, the results are becoming obvious. He has much more stamina, says he feels so much better in himself, he now looks forward to his water aerobic exercise program every second day and the best part is that he has also lost 15 pounds. He will see his doctor in another 4 weeks and will be checked again in relation to his pre-diabetic condition.

If you think water aerobics can help you with a fitness and health exercise program, please contact your local aquatic centre or municipality office to find out where you could join a water aerobics exercise class. Please remember it is important to seek medical advice if you have not done any exercise for a long period of time or you have an underlying health issue. Your doctor will be able to guide you in this matter.

To find out more about water aerobics and the fitness and health benefits to you, go to Fitness and Health Ideas. Don't put off taking action if you believe this type of low impact fitness and health exercise will benefit you. YOU MUST START RIGHT NOW. The exercise will greatly increase your fitness and health plus your physical and mental well being will be better for it.
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Fitness and Health Ideas

The Difference Between Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercises

Many people mistakenly believe that all vigorous forms of exercise are aerobic in nature. However, some forms of vigorous exercise are actually anaerobic, and have a very different effect on the body. If you're just getting started on an exercise regimen, this information will help you sort out the difference between the two and tailor your workouts accordingly.

So exactly what is the definition of aerobic exercise? Aerobic means "with oxygen," where anaerobic is "without oxygen." No, that doesn't entail holding your breath while exercising! Rather, it refers to cellular tissues producing energy without having to rely on oxygen availability. Alternatively, you may have guessed that aerobic exercise requires large supplies of oxygen to generate energy. The fundamental difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercises is that simple.

A more detailed definition is that during aerobic exercise, activity is so sustained that it requires large amounts of oxygen. The muscles utilize oxygen to burn fat and glucose to manufacture adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - the basic energy vehicle for all cells in the body. During the initial stages of aerobic exercise, glycogen is transformed into glucose. If glucose stores become depleted, fat is metabolized as fuel. It's interesting to note that "runner's high" occurs when muscles have exhausted their immediate glycogen stores and begin relying only on oxygen, which releases endorphins in the brain.

During anaerobic exercise, the muscles being used rely on energy-producing processes that don't require large amounts of oxygen. Instead, the body metabolizes muscle glycogen to produce power. Glycogen is supplied by blood sugar, which is manufactured by the liver from dietary amino acids and carbohydrates--whole grain, of course! Anaerobic exercise is so fast and brief that it doesn't have time to rely on oxygen, so glycogen is used.

Some people mistakenly believe that aerobic exercise makes you small and weak. However, it actually tones muscle throughout your body and burns fat. This will make you look good in your bathing suit--not to mention your birthday suit! The effects that aerobic activity has on your body are not merely cosmetic - there are numerous health bonuses, such as:

· Improved circulation and lower blood pressure

· Increased lung capacity through stronger respiratory muscles

· A stronger heart, which boosts pumping efficiency and lowers the resting heart rate

· Increased red blood cell count, which transports oxygen more efficiently throughout the entire body

· Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

The effects that anaerobic exercise has on your body involves being able to deliver powerful performance on demand. That comes in handy when sprinting to the finish line, or making a break to score after stealing the ball. Muscles that are anaerobically trained develop differently, which boosts their performance in brief, high-intensity situations. Benefits include:

· Stronger bones

· Reduced muscle atrophy with age

· Increased speed and power

· Increased muscle strength and mass

It's important to understand the different types of exercises that produce an aerobic vs. anaerobic effect. Anaerobic benefits are produced by brief, high-intensity activities, while in the aerobic zone, effort is moderate with a steady heart rate.

Specific types of anaerobic exercise include tennis, weight lifting, sprinting and jumping. If you'd prefer not to frequent a gym, weight lifting can be performed in the comfort of your own home. A few dumb-bells, a weight bench and medicine ball are all you need.

Some good aerobic exercises are walking, running, swimming, cycling, cross-country skiing and rowing. Fortunately, you can do aerobic exercises at home: riding an exercise bike, walking on a treadmill, or following an exercise video - the choices are virtually endless. This is particularly helpful if it's rainy or drastically cold outdoors. Also, depending on where you live, going snow-shoeing, hiking or kayaking is possible without ever having to step foot in the car!

Combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is essential to maintaining overall balanced fitness. While most associate getting into shape with aerobic activities, anaerobic exercise is a beneficial complement to aerobic exercise. For example, weight lifting is a great way to add even more tone and definition beyond what aerobic training provides.

Be sure to check with your physician before beginning any exercise regimen. Also, it's very important to begin any exercise program slowly. Many people overdo it and lose motivation or worse yet, sustain injury. You may experience a little soreness the day after working out in the beginning; but if you are so sore that you can only work out one or two times per week it is counter-productive. Make exercise a healthy habit by doing a little every day; you can increase the intensity as you build endurance and strength over time.

Of course, a daily exercise routine is just one factor in the equation for optimum health. You should also enjoy a nutritious and delicious diet, get eight hours of sleep every night, say no habits such as smoking and excessive drinking, and make sure you get the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals that your body needs to look and feel its best.

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The Best Aerobics Exercises

Real Definition Of Aerobics:

Before we get into specific exercises, we need to be able to understand what aerobics exercises really are.

First of all, aerobics exercises are defined as any kind exercise that increases your heart rate.

Not only are aerobics exercises designed to increase your heart rate, but aerobics exercises are meant to force your heart rate into a specific target zone and maintain that position it for at least 20 minutes.

Once your heart rate increases and is then kept in that targeted zone for more than twenty minutes, then one can say the exercises are considered Aerobic.

Don't Confuse Aerobics With Sports:

Often times, many people get aerobic exercises confused with any kind of athletic sport, and they use the excuse that "they don't need to do any aerobics exercises because they are already on a sports team."

This a completely wrong viewpoint of aerobic exercises, because the difference between aerobic exercises and sports, is that when you're playing in any kind of sport, your heart rate is increased, but it isn't consistently kept in that targeted zone for more than twenty minutes.

In sports, you are consistently changing heart rates, and therefore you aren't getting the same "heart exercise" as you get in aerobic exercises.

A Good Amount Of Time For Aerobics:

Now what many people want to know is, "what is a moderate amount of time that should be spent daily performing aerobics exercises?" My answer would be that you should do aerobic exercises from about 40 minutes to an hour, about 5 days a week.

However, if you are really serious about losing weight fast, I recommend you do about an hour of aerobics, every day for a week, then view the results to see if you should keep the same schedule.

Basic Powerful Everyday Aerobics:

The first exercises you may just chuckle to yourself and say, "Wow you're kidding right?"

However I am completely serious about this first exercise because the amount of time you spend doing it daily, can be the different between you losing weight and you LOSING weight.

This amazing aerobics exercises is simply walking. Yes I said walking.

Not many people realize the power that walking can have for them and the results they can get from just walking an hour everyday. This especially designed toward those who are just starting out on your weight loss goal and haven't been working out at all.

Many people blow off walking because they don't think it will give them any results.

However, you can start seeing results fast, depending on how serious you are about losing weight. Walking is the perfect aerobics exercise to start out with.

Now if you have done enough walking, or if you are past that stage in your aerobics exercising, then its time to move on the highly-praised jogging.

This can be another perfect exercise for those who have just decided they want to lose weight and are past the walking stage.

However, if you want to even combine jogging and walking into one day, your results will increase and you'll feel better about yourself.

Jogging Is The Real Deal:

Jogging is perfect for anyone because it is one of those well-known aerobic exercises that many people know will help them lose weight, but they don't want to put in the effort and take a quick jog around the block.

The best time to jog is in the early morning or early evenings where everything i quiet and peaceful.

If you are serious about losing weight fast, I highly recommend you take a jog in the morning and early evening, because experts say this is one of the best Aerobics exercises as far as results go, and its one of the simplest.

Jogging has a very high fat-burning potential, so if you think about that when you're laying in bed contemplating on whether you want to get up and jog or not, this one fact could get you out of bed.

Next Go For A Bike Ride:

The next excellent aerobics exercise on our list, is yet another simple exercises known as "cycling," "bike-riding," or even simply, "bicycling."

This is one of the greatest ways to burn calories and one of the most fun. Just think about it. You are riding a bike (which many consider as a hobby or fun activity) and losing weight and burning calories while riding that bike.

What's doing all the work is the pedaling, and other than that, I know its complete fun. I would recommend this aerobics exercises to anyone, young or old, and I wouldn't put a limit on this exercise, since you can probably figure out whether you can pedal anymore or not.

So I recommend if you're really serious, get out of your house right now, grab a bike, and ride that thing until you can't feel your legs. You'll get great results and it won't feel anything like a workout.

Last Thing, Get On That Treadmill:

The last form of aerobics is the notorious treadmill, or elliptical trainer. There are even variations of these two machines known as step climbers, which are exactly what they sound like, you constantly climb steps.

This exercise combines your walking and jogging exercises and adds a little twist to it, by adding some extra resistance to the equation.

If you don't already have one of these machines, I wouldn't recommend purchasing one because you can get this kind of exercise FREE, by getting outside and jogging around with a backpack full of weights (that you can handle).

The only advantage this has over normal jogging is the fact that you can perform high intensity exercises and control the resistance and speed at which you want to burn those calories.

I would recommend this machine if you are really serious about losing some weight in the nest few days, because this will give you fast results by effectively burning off that fat.

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