As we know, its important to keep our heart and lungs healthy…But why?
Cardiorespiratory fitness in a nut shell is the body’s ability to delivery oxygen to every cell in the body via the circulatory (blood) system and remove toxins and waste products. This delivery of oxygen is important in every system in the body and effects things like our sleep, healing, digestion, functionality and cognitive ability.
An impairment in the heart or lungs ability to perform this task obviously affects the other systems in the body and things cant run as well as they should. An indication that things could be running better would be an increased heart rate when completing tasks like (wood and groceries again? Maybe something else?) or shortness of breath when walking up a hill or long distances.
What is the solution?
Exercise is your friend! Most of the time if we increase the amount of exercise we participate in each week, we will get fitter and be healthier for it! Our bodies are clever, when we challenge the systems (heart and lungs) by exercising the body adapts and the result is an increase in our fitness. We know that we should be participating in 30 mins of exercise on most days of the week at moderate intensity. This doesn’t have to be daunting as you can break that up to make it more manageable.
If a 30 min block seems unachievable try doing smaller block (10-15min) several times a day. You can even trick yourself into exercising! Park further away from the shops and walk the long way, take the stairs wherever you can, go for a walk on your lunch break. These smaller stints of exercise are a great way to rack up exercise mins and grow your step count!
If you have concerns about starting, you should consult your doctor before increasing the amount of activities you do. Don’t forget that our Exercise Physiologist is qualified to work with all health conditions, especially one relating to heart and lunge health and can give you advice on safe ways to exercise and increase your fitness!
Book online or call the clinic to speak with our staff and start today…the heart waits for no one!
