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Cardio training is aerobic exercise (muscle development in the presence of oxygen); it enables you to improve your cardiovascular capacity.
More specifi cally, you improve the tone of your heart muscle and blood vessels. Cardio training provides oxygen from the air you breathe to your
muscles. The heart pumps this oxygen throughout the entire body, and especially to the muscles that are doing the work.
C A R D I O T R A I N I N G
It is essential that you check your pulse regularly during exercise in order
to monitor your training.
If you have no electronic measuring device, proceed as follows:
To check your pulse, place two fi ngers:
- on your neck, below your ear or under your wrist next to your thumb
Do not press too hard:
excessive pressure reduces your blood fl ow and may slow down your
heart rate.
After counting the beats for 30 seconds, multiply by two to give the num-
ber of beats per minute.
For example: 75 beats counted equals 150 beats per minute.
C H E C K I N G Y O U R P U L S E
A - Warm-up phase
LThe warm-up is the preparatory phase for exercise and gets your body
FULLY READY to start working out. It is a way to PREVENT INJURIES TO
TENDONS AND MUSCLES. It involves two steps: WAKING UP THE MUS-
CULAR SYSTEM, AND OVERALL WARM-UP.
1) You wake up your muscles with a SERIES OF SPECIFIC STRETCHES that
PREPARE YOU FOR EXERCISE: every muscle group is used, and the
joints are stimulated.
2) The overall warm-up makes it possible to put the cardio-vascu-
lar and respiratory system into action progressively, for a better
blood supply to the muscles and better preparation for the effort.
It should be long enough: 10 minutes for a recreational sport, and 20
minutes for a competitive sport.
Note that you should warm up for longer: in the morning and if you are
over 55.
B - Training
The workout is the main phase of your physical activity.
By working out on a REGULAR basis, you can improve your physical fi -
tness.
• Anaerobic work, for improving endurance.
• Aerobic work for improving cardio-pulmonary strength.
C - Warming down
This corresponds to low-level activity; it is the progressive “resting” phase.
WARMING DOWN brings your cardiovascular, respiratory and circulatory
systems and your muscles back to normal functioning (thereby preventing
undesirable side effects such as the build-up of lactic acid, which is one of
the major causes of muscle pain namely, cramps and stiffness).
D - Stretching
You should stretch after warming down.
Stretching after exertion: Minimises MUSCULAR STIFFNESS caused by the
build-up of LACTIC ACIDS and “stimulates» BLOOD CIRCULATION
PHASES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
The elliptical bike is an excellent form of cardio-training. Training on this apparatus will increase your cardiovascular capacity, thereby improving
your physical fi tness and your endurance. You will also burn calories (a necessary step in losing weight, in conjunction with a diet). The elliptical trai-
ner also helps you to tone your legs, buttocks and upper body (chest, back and arms). The calf muscles and lower abdominals are also exercised.
You can consolidate work on your buttocks by pedalling backwards.
PA R T S O F T H E B O D Y E X E R C I S E D
If you are just starting out, begin by exercising for several days at a low resistance and speed, without forcing it, taking breaks if necessary.
Gradually increase the number or duration of the sessions.
U S E
Maintenance/Warm-up: Gradual effort
starting with 10 minutes.
For maintenance work designed to keep you
in shape or get back into shape, you can train
every day for about ten minutes. This type of
exercise will wake up your muscles and joints,
or it can be used as a warm-up before ano-
ther type of physical activity. To develop muscle
tone in the legs, choose a greater resistance
and increase the duration of the exercise.
Obviously, you can vary the pedalling resis-
tance over the course of your workout.
Aerobic exercise for getting into shape:
Moderate effort for a relatively long
time (30 minutes to 1 hour).
If you wish to lose weight, this type of exer-
cise, combined with a diet, is the only way
to increase the amount of energy your body
consumes.
To do this, it is useless pushing yourself beyond
your limits.
Training on a regular basis is what will produce
the best results.
Choose a relatively low pedalling resistance
and exercise for at least 30 minutes.
This exercise should cause you to build up a
mild sweat, but it certainly should not leave you
out of breath.
It is the duration of the exercise at a slow pace
that will cause your body to dip into your fat
reserves to get its energy, as long as you pedal
for more than about thirty minutes at least three
times a week.
Aerobic training for endurance:
Sustained effort for 20 to 40 minutes.
This type of training aims to strengthen the
heart muscles signifi cantly and improve respi-
ratory functioning.
Pedalling resistance and/or speed is increased
to accelerate respiration during exercise.
This type of exercise is more sustained than
when you are working out to get into shape.
Little by little, as you train, you will be able to
work out for longer, at a faster pace or with a
higher resistance.
Aerobic endurance training requires at least
three training sessions per week.
More intense workouts (anaerobic work and
red-zone work) are reserved for athletes and
require specifi c preparation.
After each session, spend several minutes pe-
dalling, gradually reducing speed and resis-
tance to warm down and gradually return the
body to rest.
C A R D I O - T R A I N I N G
