In the third part of this series, where we give you a special look into our classes, we are almost at the summit of our metaphorical hill. Now that you are warmed up and your joints are mobilised, we get to the crux of the workout, where we increase our heart rates (but only as much as is comfortable) and get oxygen flowing to our working muscles with the aerobic and cardio section of the class.
So, what are these exercises, why do we include them in our classes, and how do they benefit your workout?
Safety first
These exercises can be performed at varying levels of intensity depending on your fitness. In our classes, we recommend that you only take it to the point where your heart is beating a little faster and you feel a little breathless. You should be able to still hold a conversation. If you are too breathless and your heart is beating too fast, we ask you to take it down a little bit.
Also, staying hydrated is very important.
What are aerobic and cardio exercises?
The terms are often interchangeable and refer to exercises that get your heart pumping while you take in more air to your lungs. The clue is in the names: cardio is short for cardiovascular, and aerobic means ‘with oxygen’.
You need oxygen in your muscles to help them move and give you the strength to exercise. When you start moving your muscles more, they seek more oxygen, which is why your lungs work harder to get more oxygen into your bloodstream. At the same time, your heart pumps harder to move the oxygen around the body to where it is needed more quickly.
The benefits
There are many benefits to aerobic and cardio exercise, including:
- Fat burning
- Improved heart health: a stronger heart that helps pump oxygen to where it needs to go more quickly and a lower resting heart rate.
- Greater lung capacity – you can get more of that muscle-enhancing oxygen in
- Stronger muscles so less chance of injury and greater stability
- Lowers risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure
- Lowers stress and anxiety
- Helps increase good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol
Examples of aerobic and cardio exercises
In this section, rather than performing discrete exercises one after the other, we complete two different routines, choreographed to fun music. The repetition of movement allows us to maintain intensity once we’ve started. This will help the heart to continue pumping the additional oxygen to your muscles so they can keep moving, allowing you to reap the benefits listed above. Watch the video to learn more.
Listen to Debbie talk about The MOVEability Way and its merits in this radio interview on BBC Radio Berkshire.
Live group classes
There are many benefits to exercising alone, convenience and flexibility being one, but there are equally as many benefits to exercising in a live class as a group. And we work in more flexible ways than you might think. Whether you are a senior or someone younger looking for a gentle exercise class, needing rehabilitation after a hospital stay, seeking ways to manage a chronic health condition, or simply looking for a friendly, welcoming class with no pressure, we’ve got you covered. Come and find out for yourself.
See what seated chair exercise classes we have coming up.