Research shows that cardiovascular fitness helps protect against heart disease. As fitness goes up, the incidence of heart disease goes down.
Working your way to fitness—and health—may be easier than you think. When you are able to walk briskly, jog, or swim comfortably for a half hour or more, you’ve achieved cardiovascular health: a strong, healthy heart and healthy lungs able to sustain activities that require oxygen. “Put simply, the more oxygen one can utilize, the more ‘fit’ that person is,” says Judy Wilson, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Texas at Arlington.
The means to cardiovascular fitness is cardiovascular exercise. “Cardiovascular exercise is any activity that involves the large muscles in the body, raises the heart rate, and is continuous and rhythmic,” says Nieca Goldberg, M.D., chief of Women’s Cardiac Care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. This includes walking, biking, jogging, swimming, and even dancing. Cardiovascular exercise can be done in a gym, a park, a pool, or the comfort of your living room.
HOW MUCH CARDIO DO YOU NEED?
As you swim laps at the community pool or pedal your bike on a nature trail, all sorts of things are happening in your body to help keep cardiovascular disease at bay.
“If done regularly, cardiovascular exercise helps improve many risk factors for heart disease,” Goldberg says. It lowers blood pressure, maintains weight loss, and makes the heart stronger and more efficient so it can deliver more blood to the muscles. Exercise also improves cholesterol by raising HDL levels (the healthy type of cholesterol) and lowering LDL levels (the unhealthy type of cholesterol).
The benefits of cardiovascular fitness are particularly strong in terms of reducing blood pressure. The American Society of Hypertension recently reported that an aerobic exercise program may be the single most effective way to control blood pressure. These benefits start to show up fairly quickly.
“If you exercise for three to four weeks regularly, your blood pressure should start to go down,” Goldberg says. And although still significant, the cholesterol-lowering effects may take a little longer. “Some studies have shown that in order to get a really significant jump in HDL, a middle-aged woman may have to exercise for a year,” Goldberg says.
Any physical activity is better than none, according to the American Heart Association. Even low-intensity activity—everything from light to moderate housework, gardening, and climbing stairs—for 30 minutes a day can help. But, more vigorous activity—jogging, jumping rope, brisk walking, swimming—for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week is the best for achieving fitness for your heart and lungs.
If you’ve never exercised before, don’t attempt to run for 30 minutes on your first day. Too much too soon can lead to injury and burnout. After checking with your health-care professional, start with five minutes of exercise every other day and build up to 30.
THE BEST FORM OF CARDIO
There are many forms of cardiovascular exercise. The best ones are those you will stick with and enjoy. Walking is great because it’s a weight-bearing exercise, which is crucial for maintaining bone density and reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis. For maximum fitness, include more than one activity to challenge different parts of your body. For example, walk a few days a week and mix in other forms of exercise, like biking or swimming, on other days.
The "Talk Test"
A good gauge of exercise intensity is whether or not you can talk while working out. "You should exercise at a level where you feel as if you're working hard, but still are able to have a conversation," Dr. Nieca Goldberg says. As you become more experienced with exercise, you'll gain a better sense of how much you're exerting yourself. According to the American Heart Association, exercising for 30–60 minutes at 50–80 percent of your maximum capacity on most days of the week will help you reach a moderate level of cardiac fitness.
A good gauge of exercise intensity is whether or not you can talk while working out. "You should exercise at a level where you feel as if you're working hard, but still are able to have a conversation," Dr. Nieca Goldberg says. As you become more experienced with exercise, you'll gain a better sense of how much you're exerting yourself. According to the American Heart Association, exercising for 30–60 minutes at 50–80 percent of your maximum capacity on most days of the week will help you reach a moderate level of cardiac fitness.
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