Aerobic exercise is not only good for your cardiopulmonary function, it also has this unexpected benefit!

In recent years, the exercise trend has become popular, but there are hundreds of sports. What kind of exercise should we do to help strengthen our cardiopulmonary function? Most people know that aerobic exercise is beneficial to cardiopulmonary function. In fact, aerobic exercise is also effective in maintaining heart health and improving vascular stiffness. Especially for people with three highs and those who have had stents installed, they need to train their cardiopulmonary capacity through aerobic exercise.

Most people know that aerobic exercise is beneficial to cardiopulmonary function. In fact, aerobic exercise is also effective in maintaining heart health and improving vascular stiffness. Especially for people with three highs and those who have had stents installed, they need to train their cardiopulmonary capacity through aerobic exercise.

Does exercise-induced breathlessness mean you’re sick? Can be checked from two directions

Generally speaking, exercise can be divided into three types: aerobic exercise, weight training, and stretching exercises. Regular aerobic exercise can promote cardiopulmonary fitness. The frequency should be more than three times a week and the duration should be at least 30 minutes. In this way, exercise tolerance can be gradually improved. The biggest difference between aerobic exercise and the other two types of exercise is that the heart rate will increase to exercise the cardiopulmonary function and promote blood circulation. In addition, panting during aerobic exercise means that a large amount of oxygen is being delivered, which can enhance the function of the heart, lungs, and blood vessels.

For those who have no exercise habit, they always feel out of breath when they start exercising, and even wonder if they have cardiopulmonary problems. If you have any doubts, I suggest you first clarify your cardiopulmonary condition. There is a set of standardized tests for heart and lung function, including the following items:

Cardiac Ultrasound:

Assess whether the heart function is normal based on the conditions of heart contraction and relaxation. In addition, this data can also be converted into "heart rate", which represents the range of heart rate cycles per minute. If the heart rate is very high, it means that the cardiovascular function is efficient.

Pulmonary function tests:

Understand the ventilation function of the lungs and the exchange function of alveolar oxygen and carbon dioxide.

According to the National Health Administration's exercise guidelines, if you want to improve your cardiopulmonary endurance, your heart rate during exercise should be above 60% of your maximum heart rate, so that you sweat a little and feel a little out of breath but not too out of breath.

Exercise needs to be gradual! Evaluate your personal VO2max

Through the above-mentioned cardiopulmonary examination, you can evaluate your personal "maximum oxygen uptake". If the test value is normal, then you should no longer have an excuse to say that you cannot exercise. It is recommended to gradually increase exercise time and intensity to improve your maximum oxygen uptake, after which you can easily climb mountains, go into the sea, and climb stairs.

How to evaluate exercise performance? Subjective judgment based on fatigue is not accurate. You can observe a key indicator - "heart rate". According to the National Health Administration's exercise guidelines, if you want to improve your cardiopulmonary endurance, your heart rate during exercise should be above 60% of your maximum heart rate, so that you sweat a little and feel a little out of breath but not too out of breath.

Here is a method for people to easily estimate their maximum heart rate: 220-age. For example, a 70-year-old would have (220-70) = 150 beats per minute, and a 20-year-old would have (220-20) = 200 beats per minute. This value is the maximum exercise heart rate. You can then choose the intensity below for conversion.

Low intensity: represents 50% of your maximum heart rate, such as slow walking.

Moderate intensity: represents 60-70% of maximum heart rate, such as jogging.

High intensity: This means reaching 80% of your maximum heart rate, such as sprinting.

If a 20-year-old young person's maximum heart rate is 200 beats per minute, he can be considered to have exercised if his heart rate is at least 120 beats per minute when trying moderate-intensity exercise. Don't think that walking in the park for three hours is exercise, because walking does not speed up your heart rate. It is recommended to choose sports such as jogging, cycling, swimming, aerobics, etc.

Grasp the three principles of aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise is helpful for cardiopulmonary function and cardiovascular diseases. When people do aerobic exercise, I suggest that they adhere to three principles: sufficient intensity, sufficient time, and appropriate frequency. For example, exercise more than 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes. It doesn't matter if you can't do it for 30 minutes at the beginning. You can increase the time gradually, from jogging for 5 minutes to 15 minutes, and finally to 30 minutes. If you can run for more than 30 minutes, then increase the running speed and increase the intensity of exercise.

Aerobic exercise can also improve the problem of vascular stiffness. People with three highs and those who have had stents installed are reminded to train their cardiopulmonary capacity. Unless they are over 75 years old and have a history of heart failure, there are risks in doing strenuous aerobic exercise. In addition, excessive exercise is not good. It is best to exercise for an appropriate period of time and not for too long. Endurance training such as running a marathon is harmful to your health. If you feel any discomfort during exercise, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible.