It is clear that movement is synonymous with health and a sedentary lifestyle has negative effects on our health Exercise. Practicing physical activity is a fundamental pillar of leading a healthy lifestyle, but what types of exercise are best? What benefits do they bring and which one should you practice according to your goals and needs? We give you all the answers! Train with a Master in Personal Trainer to learn about the different types of training and their applications.
Exercise Type: Aerobic Sports
Let’s start by talking about aerobic exercises, that is, all those that perform sports activities while breathing and oxygenating the muscles. For this reason, they are of great importance, involving the entire cardiovascular system. Your heart and lungs will work at an adequate rate to guarantee the oxygen demand the body demands. Aerobic exercises mobilize a variety of muscle groups at the same time.
Benefits Of Aerobic Exercise
The benefits of this type of aerobic exercise are immense:
- Improvement in cardiopulmonary capacity: Improvement is experienced in the entire system of heart, lungs, and circulatory system. It also increases the use of oxygen.
- Cholesterol Control: Good cholesterol (HDL) is increased and bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides are decreased.
- Enhanced mental capacity: The entire nervous system is oxygenated and stimulated.
- Improves stress: Blood pressure levels remain balanced, improving the condition of hypertensive people.
- Lowering blood sugar: Aerobic exercises require blood sugar to be pulled in order to activate the muscles. Therefore, they benefit people with diabetes.
- General toning: Strengthens all of your muscle tissue.
- Favorable mood: Adrenaline levels decrease and endorphin levels increase, leading to a feeling of general well-being.
Factors In An Aerobic Exercise
An aerobic exercise is defined by the following factors:
- frequency. Refers to how often we exercise in a given amount of time. An ideal routine might suggest we do aerobic exercise four days a week.
- Duration. This value indicates the average time of each exercise session.
- intensity. This factor refers to the level of effort required to perform the activity. It can be moderate when the exercise allows us to talk while doing it. But also rapid, which would allow us to say only a few words before pausing to catch our breath. As a general rule, it is often said that one minute of intense exercise is equivalent to two minutes of moderate exercise.
Examples Of Aerobic Exercise At Home
Before performing any aerobic exercise, even moderate, it is very important to warm up beforehand to prepare the muscles and the cardiorespiratory system. Some examples of exercises that involve great cardiovascular stimulation and that we can practice at home are the stationary bike, the elliptical machine, or the treadmill.
All these devices, of medium size, will allow us to perform an effective aerobic activity without leaving home. In general, with the help of a sports monitor, it will be guaranteed that we do the most suitable exercises and with the right intensity.
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic exercise, also known as isometric, resistance, or weight-bearing exercise, works and builds strength.
In this case, we’re talking about short, high-intensity routines. These types of exercises focus on specific muscle groups and do not require oxygen to perform.
Benefits Of Anaerobic Exercise
By doing these types of exercises on specific muscle groups, the benefits will be only in those parts of the body that are being worked. The main benefits derived from this physical activity are:
- Increase in strength, endurance, and stiffness in muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
- Cardiac improvement.
- Raised good cholesterol (HDL).
- With a proper diet, can make it easier to gain muscle or lose weight.
- They favor daily activities and improve the ability to cope with normal exertion.
Factors Of Anaerobic Exercise
These types of exercises affect one group of muscles. For this reason, they require more prior study than aerobic sports. In an anaerobic routine, in addition, these factors are taken into account:
- Intensity. The amount of kg lifted or moved each time. This factor is directly related to the weight of the athlete.
- Revision. The number of times a move is performed in a given routine.
- Frequency. The number of times the routine is executed in a given amount of time.
Examples Of Anaerobic Exercises To Do At Home
You can easily do some very effective anaerobic exercises using only your body. With something as simple as a push-up or sit-up routine, you’ll be working for very specific muscle groups. If you want to be even more effective, you can incorporate weight-bearing exercises to add more intensity to your workouts.
Flexibility Exercises
Stretching routines allow you to improve general flexibility, which is an important factor in physical fitness. Flexibility is not only the ability of a muscle to stretch but also the ability to return to its original position.
Flexibility exercises can help us increase our physical performance, reducing our chances of injury. They are good supplements to aerobic exercise, as they improve running ability. On the other hand, in anaerobic exercise, they serve as excellent shock absorbers to prevent muscle damage.
Tai chi, yoga, or pilates are just a few examples of exercises that focus on flexibility, and they can all be done at home if you prefer.
Balance Exercise
The routine is executed on the muscle groups that are involved in the balance of the body. They focus on the spine, pelvis, lower back, abdomen, and buttocks. Again, activities such as tai chi or yoga can improve our balance.
Benefits Of Balance Exercises
Strengthening these areas can prevent falls. This is why exercises that promote balance are highly recommended in older people. The main reasons for working on balance are:
- Improved coordination: Muscle movements are coordinated, therefore improving reflexes in case of a stumble or fall.
- Performance Efficiency: Muscle movement is more efficient, thus preventing injuries and improving the effectiveness of strength training.
- Neuromuscular strength.
- Increase body stability: essential for our daily life.
- Improve muscle strength: especially for those muscle groups involved in balance.
As you can see, practicing a variety of exercises will improve your health on many levels, strengthening areas and increasing your coordination. Nothing stops you from starting to do them at home right now. A healthy life is waiting for you!