Mission
Aerobics and You
Aerobic exercise is any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously for a long period of time and is rhythmic in nature. Aerobics strengthens your heart and lungs, improves circulation of oxygen, helps control weight and reduces stress. Following a regular aerobics gives you a sense of commitment and control. Exercise offers us a temporary, badly needed reprieve from our problems, a few quality minutes away from the stresses of everyday life.
Whenever you’re in perfect shape, or not-so-perfect shape, aerobic exercise can help improve the quality of your life. Why wait? Start today and enjoy the benefits.
Heart
Aerobics means with air or oxygen. Oxygen is vital to life, and your heart and is the muscle that pumps oxygen-rich blood to the rest of your body Aerobic exercise increases lung capacity (allowing them to take in more oxygen), strengthens the heart muscle (allowing it to pump oxygen more efficiently) and conditions the cardiovascular system to process and deliver oxygen more quickly and efficiently to every part of the body. Aerobics can also increase your body’s level of HDL, a substance that carries heart-damaging cholesterol out of the blood stream. Aerobics also lower blood pressure.
Body
We gain weight because we take in (by eating) more calories than we burn off (by activity). It’s best to combine diet and exercise to lose weight and keep it off. Aerobics are particularly helpful for weight control. Think of aerobic activity as being long in duration yet low in intensity. Aerobic activities include: walking, biking, jogging, swimming, aerobic classes and cross-country skiing. Walking can burn up to 210 calories per hour, while a more vigorous activity, like handball, can burn up to 600 calories per hour.
Mind
Following a regular aerobics program gives you a sense of commitment and control – two positive mental attitudes that help counteract stress. Aerobics also relax tense muscles, thereby completing (and relieving) your body’s stress response. Finally, medical research has shown that regular aerobic activity increases the body’s production of endorphins (a natural sedative) and catecholamines (chemical substances that help stabilize moods).
