The Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

There are several benefits of aerobic exercise, and aerobic exercise needs to be a part of your fitness program.

Aerobic exercise (also known as aerobics, cardiovascular exercise or cardio) is any sustained, rythmic activity that primarily uses your larger muscles, such as your quadriceps and hamstrings, and challenges your heart and lungs.

Aerobic means "with oxygen," so when you exercise aerobically your body uses oxygen to help generate energy during the exercise. Your heart and lungs have to work harder to continuously deliver oxygen to your body during aerobic exercise, and this strengthens your heart and lungs.

There are plenty of ways that you can exercise aerobically. You can walk, run or bike. You can use a treadmill, stair stepper, stationary bike, elliptical machine or rowing machine. You can take an aerobic exercise class.

Here are the primary benefits of aerobic exercise:

Reduces health risks. Aerobic exercise helps prevent cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight bearing aerobic exercise, such as walking and running, help prevent osteoporosis. Even if you already suffer from one of these ailments, aerobic exercise can help alleviate the ailment. Aerobic exercise also strengthens your immune system.

Strengthens the heart. Aerobic exercise strengthens the hardest working muscle in your body - your heart. A stronger heart pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body. Improved blood flow results in more oxygen and essential nutrients being delivered to the cells of your body. It also results in more effective removal of toxins and other waste materials from your body.

Keeps arteries clear. Aerobic exercise raises HDL (good) cholesterol and lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol. This results in less buildup of plaque in your arteries.

Strengthens the respiratory system. Aerobic exercise improves the efficiency with which your respiratory system can supply oxygen to your body. Your body needs a constant and generous amount of oxygen in order to function properly.

Decreases body fat. Aerobic exercise burns calories and helps you decrease body fat. And when you combine aerobic exercise with a fat loss nutrition plan and strength training, there's no better way to decrease body fat.

As you can see, the benefits of aerobic exercise are powerful, so make sure that some type of aerobic exercise is a part of your fitness program.

Visit the Aerobic Exercise Guidelines page for information on how to safely and effectively incorporate aerobic exercise into your fitness program.