Physical Activity 101
Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Aerobic means “with oxygen” and it is necessary for our muscles to have a steady supply to continue functioning for long periods of time.

When blood leaves the heart in the arteries towards the muscles it is high in oxygen. The blood returns to the heart with less oxygen because muscles and other tissues extract it. The blood will again leave the heart and travel to the lungs to become re-oxygenated. Finally, it returns to the heart and starts the cycle over.

Principles in developing an aerobic exercise program include…

• OVERLOAD:
  Stress your body beyond its normal limits
• SPECIFICITY:
  Your program should be related to your exercise goals
• INDIVIDUALITY:
  Evaluate your own personal fitness level when developing a program. Do not compare yourself to others.
• REVERSIBILITY:
  If you stop exercising your aerobic fitness will return to its pre-exercise level.

 

The components of an aerobic exercise program follow the FITT acronym.

• Frequency (the number of exercise sessions per week)
• Intensity (the difficulty of each session)
• Time (the duration of each session)
• Type (the type of exercise during the session)