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E N G L I S H
C A R D I O - T R A I N I N G
C A R D I O T R A I N I N G
Cardio training is aerobic exercise (muscle development in the presence of oxygen); it enables you to improve your cardiovascular capacity.
More specifically, you improve the tone of your heart muscle and blood vessels. Cardio training brings oxygen from the air you breathe into your
muscles. The heart pumps this oxygen throughout the entire body, and especially to the muscles that are doing the work.
A
Warm-up stage: progressive effort
The 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 MUSCULAR SYSTEM, AND OVERALL WARM-
UP.
1) The muscles are awakened by means of a SERIES OF SPECIFIC
STRETCHES that make it possible to PREPARE FOR THE
WORKOUT: every muscle group is brought into play, and the
joints are stimulated.
2) The overall warm-up makes it possible to put the cardio-vas-
cular 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 recrea-
tional sport, and 20 minutes for a competitive sport. Note that
the warm-up should be longer for people age 55 and older,
and in the morning.
B
Training
The workout is the main phase of your physical activity. By wor-
king out on a REGULAR basis, you can improve your physical
fitness.
• Anaerobic work for developing endurance.
• Aerobic work for developing cardio-pulmonary strength.
C
Return to rest
This corresponds to low-level activity; it is the progressive “resting”
phase. WARMING DOWN brings your cardiovascular, respira-
tory and circulatory systems and your muscles back to normal
functioning (thereby preventing undesirable side effects such as
lactic acid, the accumulation of which is one of the major causes
of muscle pain namely, cramps and stiffness).
D
Stretching
Stretching must follow the warm-down phase, while your joints
are still warm, in order to reduce the risk of injury. Stretching after
exertion: minimizes MUSCLE STIFFNESS due to the accumulation
of LACTIC ACID, and stimulates BLOOD CIRCULATION.
P H A S E S O F P H Y S I C A L A C T I V I T Y
• Training at 80% to 90% of maximum heart rate and higher: Anaerobic and red zones reserved for competitive, specialized athletes.
• Training at 70-80% of maximum heart rate: endurance training.
• Training at 60-70% of maximum heart rate: Getting into shape/Burning off fat.
• Training at 50 to 60% of maximum heart rate: Maintenance/Warm-up
Beats per minute
Age
Beats per minute
Age
If your age is different from those presented in the chart, you may use the following formulas
to calculate your maximum heart rate corresponding to 100%:
For Men: 220 minus your age For Women: 227 minus your age.
Men
Women