Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic Exercise is any physical activity that makes you sweat, causes you to
breathe harder, and gets your heart beating faster compared to when you are
at rest. Doing aerobic exercises regularly strengthens your heart and lungs
and trains your cardiovascular system to manage and deliver oxygen more
quickly and efficiently throughout your body. Aerobic exercise uses your large
muscle groups, is rhythmic in nature, and can be maintained continuously for
at least 10 minutes.
Accurate measurement of exercise heart rate is crucial in monitoring exercise
intensity. In order to measure the heartbeat per minute, one must be
knowledgeable of the specific points in the body where the heartbeat can be
felt. There are four techniques in getting the heart beat per minute, and they
are as follows.

Apical site – is taken at the apex of

the heart and can sometimes be felt
very clearly by placing the heel of
the hand over the left side of
the
chest
• Carotid pulse site – is taken from
the carotid artery just beside the
larynx using light pressure from
the tips of the pointer and middle
fingers. Remember; never check
both carotid arteries at the same
time.

Radial pulse site – is taken from

the radial artery at the wrist, in line
with the thumb, using tips of the
pointer and middle fingers.

Temporal pulse site – can be

obtained from the left or right
temple with light pressure from the
tips of the pointer and middle
fingers
Aerobic fitness is the ability of the body’s cardiovascular system to supply energy
during continuous physical activities such as biking and running.

Muscular strength is the ability of the muscles to exert a force during an activity
such as lifting weights.

Bone strengthening exercise, or any weight-bearing activity that produces a force

on the bone, is also important to overall health for children and adults.

Muscular endurance, on the other hand, is how many times you can lift a
certain amount of weight.

Resistance Training. Strength exercises, such as weight lifting, push-ups and

crunches, work your muscles by using resistance (like a dumbbell or your own body
weight.)

Circuit training. It is when you alternate between several exercises (usually five to
10) that target different muscle groups.

Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and may improve your range of motion
at your joints.

Static stretching is most often recommended for general fitness. With this type,
you slowly ease into the position and hold for 10 to 30 seconds before slowly
releasing the stretch. Static stretching should be performed with warm muscles,
such as after a warm-up or at the end of a workout. There are two forms of static
stretching.

 Active Static: This form of stretching is used in yoga and martial

arts. The stretch is held by the strength of agonist muscles (muscles
responsible for the movement).
 Passive Static: During this type of stretching, you hold the limb to
perform the stretch without any assistance such as a bar or bands.

Dynamic Stretching is stretching with movement. The body transitions gradually

into a position and this movement is repeated as you increase your reach and range
of motion.

Intensity of physical activity

Intensity refers to the rate at which the activity is being performed or the
magnitude of the effort required to perform an activity or exercise. It can be
thought of as how hard a person works to perform the activity.
How Do I Assess My Fitness Level?
You probably have some idea of how fit you are but assessing and recording
baseline fitness scores can give you benchmarks against which to measure your
progress. To assess your aerobic and muscular fitness, flexibility, and body
composition, consider recording:

✓ Start recording your pulse rate.

First Things First: Resting Heart Rate

Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute when
you’re at rest. A good time to check it is in the morning after you’ve had a good
night’s sleep, before you get out of bed.

For most of us, between 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm) is normal. The rate
can be affected by factors like stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and how
physically active you are. An athlete or a more active person may have a resting heart
rate as low as 40 beats per minute.
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart
muscle is in better condition and doesn’t have to work as hard to maintain a steady
beat. Studies have found that a higher resting heart rate is linked with lower physical
fitness and higher blood pressure and body weight.

For moderate-intensity physical activity, your target heart rate should be between
64% and 76% of your maximum heart rate. You can estimate your maximum heart
rate based on your age. To estimate your maximum age-related heart rate, subtract
your age from 220. For example, for a 50-year-old person, the estimated maximum
age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 – 50 years = 170 beats per minute
(bpm). The 64% and 76% levels would be:

• 64% level: 170 x 0.64 = 109 bpm, and

• 76% level: 170 x 0.76 = 129 bpm

This shows that moderate-intensity physical activity for a 50-year-old person will
require that the heart rate remains between 109 and 129 bpm during physical
activity.

For vigorous-intensity physical activity, your target heart rate should be between
77% and 93% of your maximum heart rate. To figure out this range, follow the same
formula used above, except change “64 and 76%” to “77 and 93%”. For example, for
a 35-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be
calculated as 220 – 35 years = 185 beats per minute (bpm). The 77% and 93% levels
would be:

• 77% level: 185 x 0.77 = 142 bpm, and

• 93% level: 185 x 0.93 = 172 bpm

This shows that vigorous-intensity physical activity for a 35-year-old person will
require that the heart rate remains between 142 and 172 bpm during physical
activity.

✓ Record how many standard or modified pushups you can do at a time

✓ How far you can reach forward while seated on the floor with your legs in front
of you
✓ Your waist circumference, just above your hipbones
✓ Your body mass index to obtain your BMI

What are the principles of exercise that I can use

as my guide in my fitness plan?
A successful exercise program incorporates a number of general principles in order to
make the training safe and effective, helping us to achieve our goals.
 Principle of Individual Differences
The principle of individual differences simply means that, because we all are unique
individuals, we will all have a slightly different response to an exercise program. This
is another way of saying that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to exercise.
Well-designed exercise programs should be based on our individual differences and
responses to exercise.

Principle of Specificity
We've all heard the phrase, "Practice makes perfect." Well, this is the Principle of
Specificity in action. This principle simply states that exercising a certain body part
or component of the body primarily develops that part.

Principle of Overload
The exercise science principle of overload states that a greater than normal stress or
load on the body is required for training adaptation to take place. What this means is
that in order to improve our fitness, strength or endurance, we need to increase the
workload accordingly.

Principle of Progression
The principle of progression implies that there is an optimal level of overload that
should be achieved, and an optimal time frame for this overload to occur. A gradual
and systematic increase in the workload over a period of time will result in
improvements in fitness without risk of injury

The Principle of Progression also stresses the need for proper rest and recovery.
Continual stress on the body and constant overload will result in exhaustion and
injury. You should not train hard all the time, as you'll risk overtraining and a
decrease in fitness.

Principle of Adaptation
Adaptation refers to the body's ability to adjust to increased or decreased physical
demands. It is also one way we learn to coordinate muscle movement and develop
sports-specific skills, such as batting, swimming freestyle, or shooting free throws.

Additionally, it makes an athlete very efficient and allows him to expend less energy
doing the same movements. This reinforces the need to vary a workout routine if you
want to see continued improvement.
 F.I.T.T. Principle
Frequency = How often you exercise
Intensity = How hard you exercise
Time = How long you exercise
Type = What kind of exercise
The F.I.T.T. Principle is one of the foundations of exercise, a set of guidelines
that help you set up a workout routine for maximum benefit.

MODULE 4
Skill-related physical fitness consists of those components of fitness that have a
relationship with enhanced performance in athletic activities. Skill-related fitness
increases one’s ability to perform in various activities and only have an indirect
connection with health.

The skill-related components of fitness are considered to be agility, balance,

coordination, power, speed, and reaction time though some people feel that other
abilities such as spatial awareness should be included. It is assumed that children
who possess high skill-related fitness will be more likely to participate in a variety of
activities and for this reason will also exemplify a high standard of health-related
fitness.

Skill-related fitness components are assessed with several different tests. Such
components as reaction time and speed are considered by some to be more related to
heredity than healthy lifestyles, especially in young people.

Fitness is a condition in which an individual has sufficient energy to avoid

fatigue and enjoy life.

Skill- or performance-related fitness involves skills that will enhance one’s

performance in athletic or sports events.

There are six skill-related fitness components: agility, balance, coordination,

speed, power, and reaction time. Skilled athletes typically excel in all six areas.

1. Agility is the ability to change and control the direction and position of the
body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion.
For example: changing directions to hit a tennis ball

2. Balance is the ability to control or stabilize the body when a person is

standing still or moving.
For example: skateboarding
3. Coordination is the ability to use the senses together with body parts
during movement.
For example: dribbling a basketball
Using hands and eyes together is called hand-eye coordination.

4. Speed is the ability to move your body or parts of your body swiftly.
In sports, players rely on speed to gain advantage over your opponents. For
example: a basketball player making a fast break to perform a lay- up, a tennis
player moving forward to get to a drop shot, a football player out running the
defense to receive a pass

5. Power is the ability to move the body parts swiftly while applying the
maximum force of the muscles.
Power is a combination of both speed and muscular strength.
For example: punching in boxing and kicking for taekwondo

6. Reaction Time is the ability to reach or respond quickly to what you hear,
see, or feel.
For example, an athlete quickly runs when he hears the starting gun, or
stealing a base in baseball