Cardiorespiratory fitness why is it important

Could they complete a variety of physical demands, and come out uninjured? The runner may escape developing cardiovascular disease later in life, but their poor mobility and lack of strength may lead to needing a knee replacement, or they become more susceptible to falling due to a lack of muscle mass.

It is crucial to understand that cardiovascular exercise is only one component of being a healthy, fit, and capable person! Here are some tips for effectively training your cardiovascular fitness:. Here are some tips for effectively training your cardiovascular fitness: Vary your cardiovascular activity.

Your body quickly adapts to the type of training you do, which makes it harder to achieve the same results. To continue reaping the benefits of cardiovascular training, change up the equipment and form of training. Biking, Swimming, Running, Sled Pushing, Circuit Training, Battle Ropes, and more can all be cycled on a weekly or even daily basis to keep your training challenging and effective.

Train at the appropriate intensities. A heart rate monitor is one of the best pieces of equipment you can buy for dialing in your cardiovascular training. Give yourself the appropriate rest intervals.

The relationship of fitness to all-cause mortality was examined in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study[ 4 ] of 13 healthy people. The subjects included in the study had no personal history of MI, hypertension, diabetes, or stroke, and no resting or stress-induced electrocardiogram ECG changes.

They were required to complete an exercise treadmill test ETT to establish their fitness level. After 8 years of follow-up, those subjects in the lowest quintile of fitness compared to those in the highest quintile had a relative risk RR all-cause mortality rate of 3.

Even after adjusting for age, cholesterol level, blood pressure, smoking, fasting blood glucose, and family history of CHD, the findings were consistent for men and women. How much physical activity is enough? The greatest reduction in all-cause mortality occurs between the least fit and the next-to-least fit group. A theoretical relationship between physical activity and the risk for mortality and chronic disease is shown in Figure 1. What is the optimal amount of physical activity?

A theoretical risk of excessive endurance exercise and the possibility of a U-shaped curve Figure 1 is discussed by Warburton and colleagues in Part 2 of this theme issue. To examine whether low levels of physical activity below the recommended weekly minutes of moderate-intensity exercise affect mortality, a large prospective study considered the mortality of individuals in relation to five different activity volumes: inactive, low, medium, high, or very high activity.

Physical activity and risk reduction An extensive effort to ascertain the benefits from the current Canadian physical activity guidelines on all-cause mortality and seven chronic diseases was published recently.

Hypertension Hypertension is the most common risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and renal disease and has been identified as a leading cause of mortality.

Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is a worldwide problem with significant health, social, and economic implications. Diabetes results from a complex interplay of environmental and genetic components.

There is strong evidence that such modifiable risk factors as obesity and physical inactivity are the main nongenetic determinants of the disease.

A randomized controlled trial sought to determine whether lifestyle intervention or treatment with metformin would prevent or delay the onset of diabetes in patients with impaired fasting glucose levels.

Thus, physical activity represents a major public health opportunity to reduce the cost of a major source of morbidity. Stroke Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada, where 5. The reduced risk of stroke is seen in both men and women, and it appears that this benefit may be present for both ischemic and hemor-rhagic stroke. Cancer Cancer is now the leading cause of death among Canadians, accounting for Cancer, like CHD, is also preventable to some extent and shares several common risk factors such as poor nutrition, obesity, inflammation, and physical inactivity.

Improvements in some of these risk factors with regular exercise might explain the cancer mortality benefits seen in meta-analyses. Depression Depression is associated with poorer adherence to medical treatments and reduced health-related quality of life, as well as increased disability and health care utilization. The greatest reduction in depressive symptoms occurred in patients with higher baseline depressive symptoms and exercise-improved physical function.

Cognitive function The benefits of physical activity in maintaining cognitive function in older age and promoting healthy aging have been well documented. In the third decade of life the human brain starts to show a loss of gray matter that is disproportionately large in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes of the brain. In a meta-analysis of 33 nondemented subjects from 15 prospective cohorts, physical activity was found to protect against cognitive decline. Physical activity may also reduce the risk for developing Alzhiemer disease.

In a year longitudinal study that assessed individuals age 65 to 79, twice-weekly leisure-time physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease. This risk reduction was more pronounced in individuals with a specific APOE e4 allele, the strongest known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer disease. An exciting aspect of the positive relationship between physical activity and gray matter volume is that aerobic exercise interventions over a 6- to month period appear to be sufficient for increasing volume.

Those subjects who did not receive the exercise program had a decline in cogntive function over the study period. Physical inactivity—a modifiable risk factor Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Furthermore, the public health burden of physical inactivity is similar in magnitude to that of obesity and even smoking. In , it was estimated that physical inactivity contributed to 9. Conclusions Physical inactivity is central to the development of many chronic diseases that pose a major threat to our health and survival.

The physically inactive have increased rates of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Not only can a physically active lifestyle reduce mortality and prevent many chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and cancer, it can promote healthy cognitive and psychosocial function.

Physical inactivity should be recognized and treated like other modifiable risk factors. Extensive evidence shows an inverse relationship between physical activity and mortality and the development of chronic disease: the greater the amount of physical activity, the greater the benefits.

As well, evidence confirms there is a graded dose-response relationship. The unfit or the physically inactive can achieve the largest health gains with slight increases in activity levels. Even patients with established disease or cardiovascular risk factors can reduce their risk of premature mortality by becoming physically active. The recommended weekly minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity has been shown to prevent and positively moderate disease.

The benefits of physical activity cannot be overstated, and encouraging physical activity should remain an important health care policy objective.

Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work. Lancet ; Changes in physical fitness and all-cause mortality. Maximum oxygen uptake VO2 max test determines the maximum amount of oxygen the body is capable of using during high-intensity activities, such as sprinting or biking. The VO2 max test typically involves running on a treadmill or pedaling on a stationary bike as fast as possible.

During the test, the person wears a chest strap or other body attachment that records their heart rate and a face mask that measures oxygen consumption. This information can benefit everyone, not just professional athletes. Having a high cardiorespiratory endurance generally means that a person can perform high-intensity exercise for longer.

People trying to lose weight may want to focus on increasing their cardiorespiratory endurance because doing higher-intensity aerobic activities can help a person burn more calories. Scientific research also suggests some other potential health benefits from having an improved cardiorespiratory endurance. For example:. The authors of a study reported that resistance training, endurance training, and high-intensity interval training led to improvements in cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength among adults who were aged 40—65 years old and who were not previously physically active.

A study investigated the effectiveness of a week cross-circuit training program in students who were overweight and had intellectual disabilities.

The researchers found participants who followed the training program had an improved exercise endurance, muscle strength, and body mass index. The following exercises can help improve cardiorespiratory endurance, build muscle, and burn calories. People can perform these physical activities at home or add them to their gym routine. Try doing these exercises in sets of 10—15 repetitions, or as many repetitions as possible for 1 minute with a second break in between sets.

Cardiorespiratory endurance is a measure of how well the heart, lungs, and muscles perform during moderate to high-intensity physical activity. Getting regular physical activity, especially aerobic exercise, can improve cardiorespiratory endurance.

Aerobic exercises can help promote heart and lung health and improve how well the body circulates and utilizes oxygen. A pound of body fat contains approximately 3, calories.