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Mother, May, I.

     

     May isn’t just Mother’s Day month, it is also national running month which gives me an excuse to talk *again* about one of my favorite subjects…cardio!  I have been a runner since I was a kid- about 11 or 12 years old- and it has always been one of my favorite forms of cardio, enjoyment of the outdoors, and best way to clear my mind.  Since I have previously written on running form and shoes the purpose of this blog is to educate on the subject of cardiovascular exercise. So let’s discuss what cardio is, its adaptations, and the prescription of cardio for health and wellness.

 

 

      Cardio- it’s just getting your heart rate up, right?  Absolutely not.  Ask anyone with an anxiety complex; a high heart rate is not always a good thing.  Cardiovascular exercise is aerobic exercise.  This means that metabolic or energy demands are met by utilization of oxygenated systems.  We even have a special sort of muscle tissue for this type of exercise.  It is more red in color, longer and leaner than our more explosive tissues, has more mitochondria (which if you remember ANYTHING from grade school biology you probably just went “is the powerhouse of the cell”), and therefor is used for endurance.  When we begin exercise, we begin mostly using our type two or fast twitch fibers, and our first two energy pathways which are anaerobic or lacks oxygen.  Eventually, those pathways and muscles give way to longer energy systems- aerobic lipolysis and glycolysis, and our endurance fibers.  These utilize free fatty acids and glucose to sustained energy.  Now, this will also correspond with an elevated heart rate as we must increase breathing to increase the oxygen delivery to the muscles to sustain the energy.  Great forms of cardio are running, swimming, basketball, cycling, or interval training such as HIIT.  This gives us the adaptations associated with cardiovascular exercise.

 

 

     Cardiovascular exercise, or cardio as we call it to be more cool, is necessary for a healthy heart, lungs, and vascular system.  It helps to maintain a healthy body composition, allows us to complete our activities of daily life with more ease, and lowers our resting heart rate.  The heart gets stronger and more efficient.  We become more insulin sensitive allowing better regulation of blood sugar.  It helps us to maintain a healthy weight.  It even allows us to recover more quickly following an elevated heart rate.  All these lower morbidity factors- or basically risk factors that increase chance of death.  In fact, according to cardiosmart.com just ten minutes a day of vigorous walking can lower chance of death by 30%. It reduces chance of heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, almost literally every morbidity factor can be lowered by proper cardiovascular exercise. 

 

 

      So how much do we need?  Well, anything is better than nothing.  Start small and work up to the recommendations.  And in the beginning, it can even be accrued- if you want to complete 15 minutes daily, then try five minutes three times a day until your build a tolerance.  It is recommended for most of the population to complete 150-300 minutes weekly of low to moderate intensity cardio.  This is working between 40-65% of your maximum capacity for extended periods of time.  We can cut that drastically by adding one day of higher intensity. Mixed intensity or some high and some moderate weekly cuts the recommendation to 90-150 minutes.  All of this depends on your goals and where you are in your fitness journey as well.  For example, it is recommended that obese individuals or diabetics complete cardio daily at a lower intensity, or if you are apparently healthy and would like to increase muscle mass maybe HIIT training intervals are better for your goals.  Whatever your goals are, please consult a professional before drastically changing or even before starting an exercise routine to make sure you are working safely and smartly.  And whoever you are, cardio is not “just lifting weights faster bro” or “walking a lot at work.”  It must be planned and consistent.  It also must be fueled properly to have the best adaptations, and this includes everyone’s favorite enemy these days….CARBS!

 

 

     So, if cardio comes easier for you or if you are an elite level cardio athlete you can thank your mother in her Mother’s Day Card this month, where we have Mother’s Day and National Running Month.  We inherit most of our mitochondria from our mother, and that is directly related to cardio capabilities.  We need planned, consistent cardio at certain levels of intensity to make sure that we live a healthy life.  Check out the previous blogs I’ve posted on proper running form and function, how to get the best shoes, etc.  There are also videos on my Instagram and YouTube on these subjects but remember this also- running isn’t your only choice for cardio.  Remember- cardio is necessary, must be planned, has many positive healthy adaptations, and has specific prescription recommendations that we must work toward achieving for optimal health, but also this needs to be supplemented by proper resistance training and nutrition for optimal health.  Be well.