components of fitness
Over the past 25 years, many people have focused on walking, running, cycling, swimming and other types of aerobic activity as their only means of exercise. However, we have learned that two other components of fitness are just as important. These other two components are muscle strength and flexibility. So in addition to having a strong heart and lungs, we also need to be able to pick up a full bag of groceries and tie our shoes without having to sit down. When developing your home fitness program, it is only appropriate that you develop all three components in order to
achieve balanced overall fitness. Let’s take a look at all three components:
Cardiovascular Fitness
Training the heart and lungs to be stronger and deliver more oxygen throughout your body with less effort.
It can help reduce the risk of heart disease, and help you manage your weight. It is the cornerstone of fitness, and can be achieved in many ways such as walking or running on the treadmill or outdoors, climbing stairs, cycling, using a StairMaster® stepper, or swimming in the pool or ocean.
For many years, it was suggested that moderate level cardiovascular activity (activities that make you sweat and breathe and a moderate pace) should be done three to four days a week for
The good news is that the cardiovascular activity does not need to be moderately intensive everyday, nor does it need to be sustained
So while it is ideal to challenge your heart and lungs by doing something like a strong power walk every other day
For example, you might try using a Schwinn® Fitness exercise bicycle for a scheduled, moderate level workout for
Whatever you do, just make sure you get your body moving, and your heart and lungs pumping for some period of time every day.
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Owner’s Manual
