Why would somebody need to have or maintain cardiovascular fitness? What is it that concerns people so much about their heart and lung fitness? Sportsmen would always want to perform well, some ladies would always want to maintain good body sizes, obese people strive to reduce weight and many people strive to avoid heart diseases. These are the reasons why cardiovascular fitness is in existence. It is the ability of the heart and the lung to be effective in their work in the body. If the work of the heart and the lung are effective, then the problems mentioned above would not be hard to deal with.
This is what this paper is all about, “Cardiovascular Fitness”. Cardiovascular Fitness This is the ability of the lung and the heart to provide the body with oxygen and nutrients during exercise in normal life. It is also known as cardiorespiratory endurance. Cardiovascular fitness describes how efficient the heart, the lung and the vascular system are, in ensuring that oxygen and nutrients reach the muscles of the body involved in the work at the time. The heart pumps the blood to several body parts which reach the body muscles and the lung does the work of supplying oxygen (Greene, 2003).
If one is involved in an exercise, the metabolism of the muscles increase leading to an increased delivery of blood to the heart and in turn efficient distribution to the body parts. Cardiovascular fitness has factors that affect it too. Just like so many things in life that have advantages and disadvantages. Cardiovascular fitness is affected by heart rate, ability of the muscles to take up oxygen from the blood, cardiac output and stroke volume (Greene, 2003). Cardiovascular Fitness 3 Cardiovascular Fitness Importance This efficient supply of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles has its benefits.
Just like taking a balanced diet that makes one look healthy, so is cardiovascular fitness. It reduces several problems in life due to heart failure or heart diseases. A case like high blood pressure can be reduced since cardiovascular fitness strengthens the heart muscles and several other muscles involved in breathing (Corbin and Lindsey, 2006). Cardiovascular fitness also increases resting metabolism to burn fat and increases endorphins release to the brain. Endorphins cause a general feeling of well being and so reduces any chances of suffering from anxiety or depression. Due to this kind of fitness the heart and lung is are able to do their work efficiently hence good health generally. Cardiovascular fitness is important in maintaining prolonged physical work which is needed by sportsmen and women (Corbin and Lindsey, 2006). There are several heart diseases due to lack of fitness as well as lack of good diet. A bad diet accompanied by lack of exercise leads to coronary heart disease that can lead to death at any time, strokes that can also lead to death, and so many diseases like obesity, which means the body weight is more than the heart can handle (Greene, 2003).
Due to all these diseases, it is important to keep the body fit. This is the main issue in cardiovascular fitness. When the heart and the lung are fit in their work, it means there is no overload or insufficiency in the body, other factors held constant. It therefore takes a lot to ensure efficiency in supply of oxygen and nutrients and the uptake of the oxygen and nutrients since all these involve a lot of processes in the body. When doing exercise for example, Cardiovascular Fitness 4 the muscle cells need energy to do their work. Where does this energy come from? In what form is it consumed and what amount is necessary?
Which foods are necessary for maintaining cardiovascular fitness? All these are very important. It is not just a simple process, so many issues have to be known (Greene, 2003). This is why it is advisable to train people on cardiovascular fitness. High cholesterol levels in one's diet for example can lead to coronary heart disease if the person does not do exercises and avoid too much consumption of cholesterol (Corbin and Lindsey, 2006). If all these important issues about a healthy heart and a healthy lung are known, then can problems due to cardiorespiratory endurance be felt in the society?
The answer is no. The cases will be reduced, but still, they cannot be completely done away with because, in a society there are different people with different characters and preferences. Some of them might not like exercises. Other types of diseases that one can suffer from due to lack of cardiovascular fitness are; diabetes type II, osteoporosis and blocked arteries. With physical fitness, cardiovascular fitness is improved and chances of getting a blocked artery is reduced, body weight is reduced hence reduced obesity and chances of suffering from other diseases are reduced too (Greene, 2003).
Anything that is efficient in its work will always have success. Just like in businesses, where efficient management leads to improved performance and increased profits. Since the aim of businesses is to get profits, will this not be a success? What can be considered success in the heart and lung function? The lack of diseases or the elimination of the barriers to good health. How to Increase Cardiovascular Fitness Cardiovascular Fitness 5 It is because of the contribution that cardiovascular fitness makes to one's life, that it is important to know how to increase efficiency of the heart and the lung.
This is done through exercise. Before deciding on the exercise to do, it is important to raise the heart beat to begin with a 75% of the maximum heart rate. This is to be able to produce some change in the body. Beginners should not follow this principle as they might harm the body. The body takes time to adapt to anything new to it and any drastic change has its effects (Alexander, 2007). Another important thing to know when doing the cardiovascular workouts is the energy requirement. Energy obtained from food is made use of in the body hours after consumption. The approximated hours are 3-4.
It is important to note that when doing exercises meant for maintaining cardiovascular fitness, the energy should be available at the time. This does not mean that food or sources of energy be consumed at that time of exercise, again this is important to note. No food should be taken during exercise as no energy will be provided then (Greene, 2003). This is because during cardiovascular fitness exercises the body depends on stored sugars and fats (energy) in the muscle cells. From this knowledge the food necessary for providing energy 3 or 4 hours before the exercise should be those high in complex carbohydrates.
Examples of such food are pasts, bread, potatoes, fruits rice and so on (Greene, 2003). Another important factor to consider in increasing cardiovascular fitness is the type of exercise. It is advisable to select a type of exercise that one likes. There are so many types of exercises but it does not have to be a specific one. The exercises also Cardiovascular Fitness 6 depend on the current cardiovascular fitness of an individual. If one is already fit and just needs to maintain that cardiovascular fitness, a power walk may just be enough. Examples of activities that are done to ensure cardiovascular fitness are; climbing of stairs, swimming, skating, hikes, playing tennis, bike riding, running and so many others (Alexander, 2007). As had been noted earlier, the activities should be able to keep the heart rate up. One may wonder why it is the heart rate that is of concern. It is because the heart rate is linked to the muscle activity and lung activity. When one has an increased heart rate, it means the rate of blood pumping is increased and so its delivery to the muscles is increased too. Increased muscle activity increases the heart rate since the body is signaled that more energy and oxygen is needed for more work to be done.
Lung blood purification is also increased since the heart has to pump oxygenated blood, and it has to make sure that this oxygenated blood is available to the heart. The muscles must get the oxygen and energy they demand for to do the work (exercise) the person has chosen to do. Time recommended for the exercise also matters. It is important to do exercises for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 90 minutes three times in a week, but this also depends on the intensity being worked on by the individual. The recommended time differs in beginners and those used to the exercises. Beginners are allowed to break the exercise time into; 15 minutes as part one and 15 minutes as the other part of the exercise if they find it difficult to do exercise for 30 minutes continuously (Alexander, 2007). Cardiovascular Fitness 7 The last important thing is not to overdo the exercise. This fitness exercises are to keep the cardiovascular system fit and not for straining. It is important to develop a scale in which to work on (Alexander, 2007).
Conclusion Cardiovascular fitness is all about the exercises and the diet. To maintain the efficiency of the lung and the heart, the muscle organs to which the heart and the lung work for must be well taken care of. This is a picture of daily life where in various working companies or industries, people with experience are required more than those with little experience. How is this experience obtained? Through practice. One can have the necessary skill but still fail to be efficient due to lack of experience/practice. This is the same way the efficiency of the cardiovascular system is maintained. The body is the company in need of specific skilled workers with experience to avoid inefficiency which can lead to diseases hence death. Cardiovascular fitness if improved or maintained eliminates risks of death.
