Don't Exceed Your Aerobic Limit

When you say "aerobics," people invariably picture themselves sweating up a storm or gasping for breath. The truth is, your metabolism is aerobic even while you're reading the book, reading this blog--though it would take years of aerobic couch-sitting to burn off unwanted fat and you would never condition your heart and lungs that way.

On the other hand, many so-called aerobics classes may actually be anaerobic (without oxygen, or too high-intensity) for you. When you can't easily catch your breath, you are approaching your aerobic limit. Exceed it, and your body must switch to glucose-predominant fuel while fat-burning metabolism comes to a screeching halt. Lactic acid starts to build up, and exhaustion may set in. People who are over-fat, out of shape, or who have non insulin-requiring diabetes may bump into this aerobic limit at a lower workout intensity than normal people.

So that you don't exceed your aerobic limit, make sure you can comfortably breathe and simultaneously carry on a conversation while you are working out. Or monitor your heart rate as follows:

• First, locate your pulse on the side of your neck below your ear, just under your jawbone.
• Second, determine your heart rate per minute while you are sitting and resting; count the number of beats in 6 seconds, count the first beat at zero, not after a second has passed, then add a zero to the total. For instance, if you count 13 beats in 6 seconds, your heart rate is 130 beats per minute.

If you stay within your conditioning zone, you can be confident that your heart and lungs are getting a productive workout and you are disposing of body fat at the same time.

At first, check your heart rate often---before you set out, after several minutes of brisk walking, at the halfway point, and at the end of your jaunt. Five minutes after the end of your workout, do a recovery heart rate check. It should be less than 120 or less than 100 if you're over 50. If it's not, you overdid it! As you become fit as a fiddle, your resting heart rate may slow down, saving your heart thousands of beats every day and adding years to your heart-life-expectancy.

Get Fit On Your Foot

There are several ways to get more of a walking workout with the same number of miles:

• Walk faster. This is the easiest way.
• Swing your arms vigorously or pump them, with elbows bent--you'll burn 5% to 10% more calories (much more effective than hand weights, which can throw you off balance).
• Walk or hike uphill, and give your thighs and buttocks a thorough workout; plus you'll burn twice as many calories on a 10-degree slope as on the flat-lands---even more with a really steep incline.
• Walk downhill; after every up comes a down, but you continue to burn more calories because you are braking. You'll feel that it's not that easy by just walking downhill !
• Walk carefully over an uneven surface, like a dirt trail, a soft sandy beach, or a dry creek bed.
• Instead of tiny mincing steps, as if you were still clipping around in uncomfortable dress shoes, try a longer stride, pushing off with your toes.
• Walk backward to warm up and cool down----it will stretch the opposite muscles and take stress off your knee joints.
• Forward or backward, walk tall and proud with your tail tucked under to strengthen flabby abdominal muscle.

Exercise on stationary bike

If you are shopping for a stationary bike, try it out for comfort at least 10 minutes straight before you sign on the buying document. Many people find a recumbent model more comfortable, but whatever your choice, be prepared to spend $200+ for a really good one. Always adjust the seat properly: when the pedal is nearest the floor, your foot should be flat and parallel to the floor, with your leg almost fully extended.

Besides offering a gentle alternative to the pounding of jogging, biking is fun and an efficient means of transportation. With a bike rack on your car, you can take aerobic fitness with you.

The key to most of these aerobic sports, though, is an excess of initiative, plus recreational togs to start, and then a shower to finish. That's why the sport ranked number five is also the number one all-around lean-builder and fat-burner: walking.

The first time you did it, Mom and Dad squealed with delight and took your picture. And you've been doing it ever since, because walking is a natural. Most anyone can walk--anytime, anywhere--sans special equipment outside of a sturdy pair of walking shoes. You can sneak off for a walk when you need it most, without telltale perspiration and gym shorts to give you away. And whether your goal is getting lean or just getting from here to there, you'll find aerobic walking is easy to weave into your daily routine. It's also simple to pick up again after a layoff--another reason walking is the most popular recreational activity.

Walking is a sociable sport; you can have a heart-to-heart conversation right in the middle of a workout. Plus it's one of the few aerobic activities men and women with varying fitness levels can do together. Create a rendezvous time and place for neighborhood walkers, and you'll rarely walk alone. If you're feeling a bit contemplative, on the other hand, walking by yourself allows you to enjoy rare solitude. It's easier to control the intensity of a walk than a run, which helps you stay within your aerobic limit and avoid injuries. Walking also allows you to maintain your workout longer without getting out of breath or pooping out; and a long, slow calorie-burn is the optimum way to dig into body fat stores. Three miles an hour, or 20 minutes per mile, is a good pace for long walks. If it still feels too tame, try race-walking to add some spice to the sport. True to its label, you can fan the ompetitive flame and burn major-league calories without the physical impact and joint stress of jogging.

"Of all exercise---walking is the best."

But what if your sole goal is to metabolize body fat? Is walking worth the effort? You better believe it is. During a landmark year-and-a-half study, one group of women walkers shed an average of 22 (and as many as 38) scale-pounds---without cutting back on food at all. In fact, most of the women claimed to be eating more. After years of losing and regaining the same pounds, they found they could maintain or increase these results simply by adjusting their time spent walking.

A study suggests fitness even beats out dieting. Participants who were instructed in "diet" techniques lost 16 scale-pounds, while those given exercise instruction without any mention of food restriction lost only 10. A three-year follow-up found the "dieters" right back where they had started, however, while the original exercise group had regained little of their lost fat. Results like these could put us nutritionists right out of business! Interestingly, the "dieters" lost a pound of lean for each 4 pounds of fat, while the exercisers kept their lean.

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Swimming, bicycling and trim

Here are some suggestions to help you get in the swim---and stay there.

• Protect your coiffure with a shower cap, then grab a kickboard and splash your calories away. If you need them, get a snorkel for breathing, a wet suit for warmth, or goggles to guard against chlorine.
• Even a flounderer will burn calories, but don't hesitate to sign up for a swimming skills class --- it's really fun.
• When you get tired of traditional swim strokes, try aqua exercises . In chest-deep water, you can jog or do continuous calisthenics like bobbing and stretching.
• Another idea: strap on a pair of fins, hook your toes over a rope, and swim in place; or grab the rope and practice your kick; or simply tread water.

Bicycling is another great nonimpact sport, so it ranks fourth on the list. True aerobic cycling in downtown Manhattan may kill you before it conditions you (wear a helmet, please), but an indoor stationary bicycle offers all-weather access plus safety and privacy. Even though you can read, watch

Out on the streets you may have to put in a bit more time, though---say a ride of 50 minutes to an hour---to get the same fat-burning advantage of a half-hour jog. (That's because you spend some of your time coasting.) On a stationary bike, however, the tension knob allows you to select the intensity of the ride and thereby pedal away your calories faster.

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Aerobic Alternatives

Aerobic sport like skiing burns an awesome number of calories. Between seasons you might investigate sports equipment that simulates cross-country skiing. For this demanding sport, it pays to get in shape ahead of time.

Then there's rated second, swimming, but often the first step for those who are over fat. It allows a whole-body workout without the danger of overheating (this is a significant problem for fat-insulated people), and those with injuries can move in most any direction with water serving as a protective cushion. Underwater even heavyweight landlubbers are light as a feather, and the feeling is pleasantly addicting. Once you see how swimming tones and firms your chest and shoulders, you may have to be coaxed out of the water rather than into it.

Running is the third best aerobic choice, but it will always be number one in the hearts and soles of the runners, jogging is a good option for busy people; you can accomplish a lot of aerobic calorie-burning with a minimal time investment. Occasional joggers quickly find themselves addicted to the peace, the pace, and the power of running, and find it's fairly easy to stick to it.

When you get tired of the same old sights,simply vary the route. In fact, you can run away to just about anywhere in the world with only your passport and running shoes for companions. And if you need extra incentive now and then, you can find it in a competitive runners' club or a free-spirited run-for-fun event.

No strain, no pain

"Keep going--twenty-three, twenty-four---make it burn!" barks the exercise drill sergeant. But according to the guy, whose aerobic programs are among the oldest and safest, overworked muscles are especially vulnerable to fatigue, cramping, and injury. To enjoy the fitness gain without the muscle strain, shop carefully before you pay your fee.

• An aerobics class should be fun and challenging, never boring, and music is a must--the Lamaze method of physical conditioning.
• Quality aerobics shoes and a wood floor or other resilient surface help prevent common impact injuries, as do routines without repetitive movements.
• Calisthenics like leg lifts, which concentrate on certain body parts, will tone the muscle under the fat but will not reduce the fat over the muscle; whole-body aerobics are best for decreasing body fat, and 30 to 45 non-stop minutes are a recommended minimum.
• Your pulse should climb neither too high (above 75% to 85% of your maximum heart rate) during routines nor fall too low between routines.
• A low-impact or low-level class is probably most productive for initially out-of-shape and over-fat folks.
• An aerobics class should meet two to three times a week but never more than four; hiking, biking, and swimming can round out your fitness week.
  

Aerobic - Move it to lose it

To be totally fit, you can pursue activities that make you stronger such as to lift your single suitcase aboard on your international flight, faster such as to chase down the last bus home, more flexible such as to fold yourself, yoga-style, into a super compact car, more agile such as to keep up with a four-year-old child at the playground, and provide endurance as you can hit every store at the shopping mall. Only sustained activities provide what you need most, however: whole-body fat-burning and aerobic heart-and-lung conditioning.

Activities that accomplish this are as close as the nearest fitness class. People who would never routinely climb on a bike or jump in a pool are easily lured into a gym after work to sweat and sing along with their favorite singer. With a quality videotaped program, you can burn calories in the comfort and privacy of your own living room, at any hour of the day or night.

Don't overlook the rewards a group has to offer, however. You will make new friends, and in a semi-crowded class you will also discover there is no such thing as an average body, much less an ideal one. Instead, you see infinite variety in size and shape--from gazelles to gorillas. (It is interesting that gazelles can be awkward and clumsy while gorillas can be delicately graceful, and both can become aerobically fit.) When you unconditionally accept everyone else's shape and fitness level in a relaxed sociable setting, it helps you accept your own luck-of-the-draw as well. If you are intimidated by muscle-and-fashion-show aerobics, keep hunting until you find a program that allows for, and encourages, individuality. Somewhere there is a class that is exactly right you.