Cardiovascular Training

Your cardiovascular training will be very important in helping to burn body fat, increase heart function and lower your blood pressure. Your "cardio at home" plan should be at a comfortable pace that you can sustain for 20-30 minutes. If you have never done cardiovascular exercise before, you may want to start with 5-10 minutes and build up in duration over several weeks.

Some suggestions for your "cardio at home" plan include:

Following the FITT Principle (Frequency, Intensity, Type & Time), a beginner cardio plan may look like this:

FREQUENCY:
3-5 times a week

INTENSITY:
Cardiovascular training intensity can be rated by two methods:

1) BORG Scale Rating: "Moderate" to a "somewhat hard pace" (a 4 out of 10 on the Borg scale) Click here for more info on the BORG scale.

2) Heart Rate Training Zone: Calculate 220-age = Max Heart Rate Train at 60-80% of your maximum heart rate.

Example: 220-60 years = 160 beats per minute

60% of 160 = 96 beats per minute

80% of 160 = 128 beats per minute

Therefore a 60-year-old should try to keep their heart rate between 96-128 beats per minute for optimal cardiovascular training benefits

Heart rate can be calculated by taking a carotid pulse (on the side of the neck close to the trachea or "windpipe"). Count for 6 seconds and multiply by 10 to get your rate.
For example, 11 beats in 6 seconds would be calculated:

11 x 10 = 110 beats per minute

A Polar Heart Rate monitor can also be used for greater ease of measurement.

TYPE:
The list below gives ideas for you to choose from:
*Get a pedometer and start brisk walking outdoors
*Dancing to music in your living room
*Home exercise/aerobic videos
*Join a local gym or community center for drop in aerobics classes
*Water aerobics or lap swimming at a local pool
*Video games such as Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution (Your grandkids will think you are cool!)
*You may choose to dust off your old treadmill/stationary bike! (or you can buy a second hand one - they are rarely used when you buy them in this state!)

TIME:
Beginners should consider starting a cardiovascular training program with 10 minutes of sustained cardio and then gradually progressing to 15 minutes, 20 minutes and then eventually working up to 30 minutes each session. It is more important to gradually increase the duration vs increasing intensity in the first few months of cardiovascular training.