Aerobic Exercise: Make it Part of Your Strength Training Program for Optimal Athletic Performance Enhancement

The term aerobics means "with oxygen". While performing aerobic exercises your heart, lungs, and blood vessels respond to your physical activity by increasing the oxygen available to your muscles. These exercises must use large muscle groups, and the activity must be sustained for a period of time.

-Strengthens heart so it can pump more oxygen-rich blood to your tissues with every beat.
-Improves fitness. As you develop your aerobic stamina you can increase your intensity and duration. And recovery time decreases.
-Reduces the risk of certain cancers.
-Increases your resistance to fatigue.
-Improves your mood and reduces depression and anxiety.
-Improves the quality of your sleep.
-Increases good (HDL) cholesterol.
-Helps control and reduce body fat.

Heart rates and target zones for aerobic exercise

For general guidelines used in determining your maximum heart rate and target heart rate ranges, refer to the chart below.

Age....Max.heart rate(beats/minute)...Target range(beats/minute)

20-24________________200______________120-150

25-29________________195______________117-146

30-34________________190______________114-142

35-39________________185______________111-139

40-44________________180______________108-135

45-49________________174______________105-131

50-54________________170______________102-127

55-59________________165______________ 99-123

60-64________________160_______________96-120

65-69________________155_______________93-116

70 and older___________150_______________90-113

Aerobics can stand on its own or be part of a strength training program which includes body exercises, flexibility exercises, and weight training. There are many exercises you can do without going to the gym and without weights. You can use your own body weight as the resistance and get a great workout in the process. Aerobics and body weight exercises can also supplement a weight training program.

Here are some tips that go for body weight exercises as well as exercises using weighted resistance. Before you move on to using weights in your strength training be sure you are aware of these tips.

1. Before any high intensity training, do a low intensity warm up for 5 minutes that makes you sweat. Before lifting weights do a warm up lift for 1-3 sets

2. Don't throw your body around. Don't let momentum control the movement. You should be able to pause at any spot in the motion and prove control.

3. Concentrate on what you are doing at the moment. Don't have conversation during a set. Losing focus leads to lack of form, which can lead to injury.

4. Learn and practice proper form for a few weeks before adding resistance. Increase weight and intensity in small, gradual steps. Never more directly into intensive training on an exercise you are not familiar with.

5. Do not hold your breath. Especially during very hard workouts. If you were using weights and passed out you could be severely injured. Always breath out during the most challenging phase of the work out. Breath through your nose and mouth.

6. Never continue an exercise if you experience pain. Pain is not the same thing as muscular discomfort. The motto "no pain - no gain" has done a great deal of damage to athletes. Usually poor form is responsible for the pain. Learn, and fix the problem.

If you would like to get more information about starting an aerobics program or adding it to your strength training workout you might get some useful information from this website: http://www.strength-training-coach.com

Joe Ross