It’s an exercise that the world loves, especially since it is simple to do and gradually works at increasing your heart rate, melting away those stubborn stores of fat.
Aerobics tones muscles of the arms and legs, strengthening them and providing greater stamina, flexibility and endurance.
You can choose between two main kinds of aerobic exercise—high and low impact, based on your fitness levels.
If you are a beginner, start with low impact exercises that are mild in nature, easy to perform and will gradually get your heart pumping. If you are an old hand at this, then switching to high impact and more intense exercises that burn more calories and fat, is probably the best.
A low impact routine lasts longer, while high impact routine targets core muscles more effectively and in short bursts.
You can inter-change both for a complete workout!
Regular aerobics exercise has been proven to have excellent health benefits, especially in the long term.
A study by the Human Cardiovascular Research Laboratory and the Disease Prevention and Aging Dept, University of Colorado, established that regular aerobic exercise helps people age more gracefully, with more body strength, endurance and agility, factors that are crucial in the golden years to prevent age-related decline.
It also established that regardless of diet, regular aerobic exercise was very effective in warding off cardiovascular disease. The New England Journal of Medicine also established a link between aerobic exercise and its role in preventing Type 2 diabetes, caused by lifestyle factors such as a sedentary lifestyle and obesity, both of which can be corrected through regular performance.
While any exercise that gets your heart pumping can be termed as aerobic, most aerobic routines have these key exercises.
If you’re planning to take an aerobics class or learning the steps from a CD, then it would help to familiarize yourself with these moves.
Squats are easy exercises to perform and highly effective. Place feet shoulder-width apart with the toe pointing outwards. Bend both knees and move your upper body forward as you stretch both your arms in front of you. Slowly move to standing position. Repeat doing at least three sets of eight squats. Squats help burn flab off the abdomen, hips and thighs.
Lunges are good for toning and burning fat. Put one leg in front of the other and bend at the knee. The other leg is stretched behind you. Take care to ensure that the knee does not extend beyond the toe as you bend. Stand slowly from this position. Do three sets of eight lunges.
Lifting weights while doing squats and lunges can help strengthen arms and burn fat faster. Both these exercises help build lean body tissue.
The chest press works the major muscles of the chest, shoulders and arms. To perform a basic standing chest press, put your arms in front of you while you’re in standing position. Your elbows should point towards the floor and your fists should touch. Then extend the arms to the sides of the shoulder.
The aerobics grapevine is a fun move to perform and it works on both upper and lower body. Stretch your arms out on either side, parallel to the floor. Cross them in front of your chest while simultaneously stepping to the side. Take two steps while crossing and uncrossing your arms. Repeat this move a dozen times.Aerobics is great for conditioning, toning and strengthening your body. You can try these exercises at different speeds as your fitness levels improve.
