The name aerobics for a specific genre of exercises is derived from the word 'aerobic', the literal meaning of which is 'in the presence of oxygen'. Any physical activity that places on the body an increased demand for oxygen in a moderate, continuous, rhythmic and steady manner constitutes an aerobic exercise, for example, walking, jogging, cycling, or any other activity that employs large muscle groups.

Aerobic exercises can be of two types: low-impact and high-impact. Low-impact exercises include swimming, walking, cycling, rowing, while high-impact exercises include jogging, skipping, jumping jacks, stair climbing, etc. The low-impact ones are more suitable for pregnant women, senior citizens, and people with low fitness levels, as they do not injure the knees and other joints.

Variations of Aerobic Exercises

In addition to these regular aerobic exercises, indigenous variants have come up that eliminate the monotony factor and make exercising an interesting fun activity, for example, aerobic dancing, which is usually done in groups. The latest craze in aerobics is Zumba, a combination of regular aerobics and Latin dance.

Kickboxing, which combines martial arts kicks and punches into a high-intensity aerobic workout, is another favorite form of aerobics.

Aerobic exercises performed inside a water pool constitute water aerobics, and are low-impact in nature. Water aerobics can include kicks, jumping jacks, strides, knee lifts, and virtually everything that one can do outside water.

Health Benefits

Incorporating aerobics into your lifestyle can make a drastic difference to your fitness level. Increased fitness implies that you burn more calories compared to a sedentary person even during sleep. During aerobics the muscles should be made to work hard enough to require lots of oxygen, but not so hard as to push the heart beyond its capacity to deliver it.

According to American College of Sports Medicine, aerobic exercises done three times a week for at least 20 minutes at 60% of the maximum heart rate suffice for increasing the fitness level of an average person. For better and faster results, one can exercise more often and for longer duration (say, 40-45 minutes), but definitely not harder than 60% of maximum heart rate.

Aerobics increase the basic metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate is dependent on age, gender, the ratio of muscle to fat in the body, and the physical activity level. Incorporating some muscle-toning exercises (e.g., light weights lifting) into your aerobics workout program, two to three times a week, can bring about magical results. The more lean muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism, and the faster is the process of burning fat.

Conclusion

Working out requires both time, commitment, and lots of patience. However, if you overcome the initial obstacles and are able to incorporate an exercise program into your daily life, exercising becomes a habit and you look forward to experience the high that exercise delivers.

The optimum duration of aerobic exercise depends on the purpose for which you are doing it. If you are not overweight and are looking simply to improve your cardiovascular health, then 20 minutes, thrice a week suffices. But if you want to loose weight substantially, then 30-40 minutes of aerobic activity, 5 times a week, in combination with a muscle-toning program will definitely work out much better.

Summary:

Incorporating an aerobic exercise program into your lifestyle offers many health benefits. It helps to raise your fitness level, decreases your body mass index, decreases blood pressure, improves the lipid profile, relieves anxiety and tension, and lastly, makes you look fabulous due to toned muscles, improved posture and increased flexibility.