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February 9, 2012
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Aerobic Exercise

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Aerobic Exercise Overview

Aerobic exercise is the type of moderate-intensity physical activity that you can sustain for more than just a few minutes with the objective of improving your cardiorespiratory fitness and your health. "Aerobic" means "in the presence of, or with, oxygen." You know you're doing aerobic exercise when your heart's thumping and you're breathing faster than you do at rest but you can sustain the activity for extended periods of time. I recommend the cue "warm and slightly out of breath" to determine if your activity level is aerobic. Walking, jogging, biking, dancing, and swimming are examples of activities that can be performed aerobically.

Anaerobic, on the other hand, means "the absence of, or without, oxygen." Anaerobic exercise is performed at an intensity that causes you to get out of breath quickly and can be sustained for only a few moments. Weight lifting and sprinting are examples of anaerobic exercise.


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Aerobic Exercise

Understanding Your Risk for Heart Disease

It is possible to minimize the risk of heart disease, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. High blood cholesterol can lead to coronary artery disease, heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease; keeping cholesterol levels in the normal range can decrease the risk of these diseases.

Lifestyle changes can let you take control of your heart health, and managing your cholesterol level is one such important lifestyle change. Other risk factors that can also be controlled include maintaining normal blood pressure, exercising, keeping your weight within normal limits, quitting smoking, and controlling diabetes and stress.

While one cannot control risk factors like age and family history of heart disease or stroke, it is possible to minimize the other risk factors to live a longer and healthier life.

Knowing your cholesterol number is a good first step in reducing risk. ...

Read the Lifestyle Cholesterol Management article »


Read What Your Physician is Reading on Medscape

Therapeutic Exercise »

DeLateur defined therapeutic exercise as the prescription of bodily movement to correct an impairment, improve musculoskeletal function, or maintain a state of well-being.

Read More on Medscape Reference »

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