| Hello there, anyone for aerobic exercise? | | | | withstand all those persistent pounding on their |
| The aerobic exercise popularised by Jane Fonda in the | | | | joints.....And most of them had problems with their |
| late 1970s and early 1980s? | | | | backs, feet and hips. |
| You know, the aerobic craze that took millions of | | | | However, you shouldn't blame it all on aerobics |
| Americans to group exercise classes for the first | | | | exercise for your problems. You would have problems |
| time? You wore tights, leotards and thongs to the | | | | from anything with persistent impact on your joints. |
| aerobic class. You did non-stop jumping, kicking and | | | | Take running or jogging or swimming. |
| running, twirling your arms, doing high knee lifts and | | | | If you do these exercises 6 or 7 times per week for |
| punching the sky to throbbing music....and sweated..... | | | | more than 1 hour per session, you'll bound to stress |
| You did it all with a vengeance! | | | | your joints and muscles. |
| Remember? | | | | And for that matter, for any other exercises, if you're |
| The purpose was to rev up your heart beat and | | | | overdoing them, you'll bound to develop oversuse |
| exercise your heart, to keep it in good shape. | | | | injuries and would encounter problems - muscle |
| And it was all about staying in shape as well..... | | | | cramps, muscle pain, aches and pains in joints and |
| Sorry to tell you that this kind of aerobic exercise is | | | | tendons, swellings...... |
| now on the wane, rapidly fading off due to emergence | | | | The correct way of doing exercise, any exercise, is to |
| of new and innovative classes and techniques, for | | | | adhere to the motto - do it in moderation and with |
| instance: | | | | varieties. |
| 1. Hybrid classes that work your body and mind | | | | Moderation, meaning: |
| 2. Calorie-burning workout classes with little stress on | | | | -Do cardio exercises such as running, jogging, cycling |
| joints and muscles | | | | or swimming 3-4 times per week, for 30 minutes per |
| 3. Classes that alternate hard training with easy | | | | session |
| intervals | | | | -Do strength training 2 -3 times per week, for 20 |
| 4. Relaxing Pilates/Yoga classes | | | | minutes per session |
| For now, the popularity of this kind of aerobic exercise | | | | -Do stretching 3 - 4 times per week, for 10 - 20 |
| is sharply down from when it was the mainstay of | | | | minutes per session |
| fitness in America...... | | | | How about varieties? |
| These statictics may tell you a thing or two about the | | | | Yes, just mix and change a little to spice up your |
| sad, declining trend: | | | | exercise routine. For example, you could: |
| 1. Less than half of the 300 gyms and health clubs | | | | -Choose to do running on Monday, swimming on |
| surveyed by IDEA offered aerobic classes now. The | | | | Wednesday, cycling on Friday........ |
| survey concluded that the number of gyms offering | | | | -Add appropriate weight increment and reduce the |
| aerobic classes would continue to decline | | | | number of reps in strength training |
| 2. At its peak in the mid-80s, an estimated 17 million to | | | | -Exercise outdoor instead of always exercise indoor |
| 20 million Americans did aerobic exercise. But in 2005, | | | | -Switch to indoor treadmill running or walking when |
| there were only 5 million who did the exercise. The | | | | outside weather is terrible |
| 2006's figure would show even a lesser number | | | | -Liven up your exercise session with lively music |
| Aerobic exercise instructors reckoned that this kind of | | | | instead of just exercise in dumb silence...... |
| aerobics exercise got lots of damages, especially | | | | Hey, it's up to your "creative" imagination to come up |
| when you engaged in high impact aerobic and did it for | | | | with "sparkling" varieties..... |
| 6 or 7 times per week. | | | | Would you say there's an end to Jane Fonda-type |
| The hardest hit group was the instructors as they | | | | aerobics exercise? Not necessary. |
| were pushing harder than anyone else and doing the | | | | It depends on how you do the exercise. I would say if |
| exercise a dozen times per week...... | | | | you do it moderately, you'd benefit more from it rather |
| However, apparently many who took this aerobic | | | | than having problems..... Once in a while, I still go for this |
| exercise were not spared the agony either...... | | | | type of aerobic exercise....... It's a great way to keep |
| They suffered from acute and overuse injuries due to | | | | my heart pumping and in good shape......and I sweat a |
| high impact aerobic as their bodies weren't meant to | | | | good hearty sweat! |