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Home Your Health Body Training & Rehabilitation Cardiovascular endurance Training & Rehabilitation
Learn how to optimise your training to increase your endurance and recover faster.
Cardiovascular endurance is an indicator of overall physical health. Tests can monitor how well the circulatory (heart) and respiratory (lungs) systems perform during moderate to high intensity exercise. Other names for cardiovascular endurance include cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiorespiratory endurance, aerobic fitness or ‘cardio’. Improved cardiorespiratory fitness is achieved by both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise. Sustained muscle activity that require oxygen. Anaerobic exercise. Does not require oxygen, and are achieved through short bouts of high intense activity. Most activities throughout the day are aerobic in nature such as walking, cleaning, gardening etc. Regular activity throughout the day improves the delivery of oxygen to the working muscle.
Benefits of cardio respiratory training can lead to:
Cardiovascular Endurance is one of the five basic components of fitness. The other components are: muscular endurance, muscular strength, body composition, and flexibility. It is common for people to regard cardiovascular endurance as the most important component of fitness to be developed. Low Endurance capacity leads to fatigue, even in activities that are not aerobic. Fatigue is a major deterrent to optimal performance. Even minor fatigue can hinder total performance:
This doesn’t just affect physical performance for athletes or military personnel in physically active roles; this also applies to those in sedentary roles and individuals within their everyday activities and work.
Your heart rate can be used as a measure of exertion during exercise, and can be a helpful way to ensure you are achieving the right training stimulus. Heart rate monitors are becoming more accurate and these can help you work out the intensity and pace of exercise and exertion required in training to build cardiac endurance. Below is a guide to both heart rate percentages and the Borg rating of perceived rate of effort and intensity of the exercise.
Working out your Heart Rate Zone using Karvonen formulaAge-Predicted Max HR – 220- ___ your age = _________ BPM 60% max HR = _______ max HR x .60 = ______ BPM 90 % max HR = ______ max HR x .90 = ______ BPM Target HR Zone is _______ to _______ BPM Note. This is only a guide, it is impossible to accurately obtain specific heart rate ranges without testing within a laboratory with regular intervals. These percentages are to give you a guide of the approximate level to train in to get the right training response. Through training you will also likely establish the training level by feel or a perceived rate of exertion as explained above.
Within the military, general training should allow for both aerobic and anaerobic training. For those required to perform at a high intensity, short duration and under heavy load, a program based solely on running will not provide sufficient training or support for high performance. However, because aerobic fitness is the basis for all training, an endurance based program which utilises anaerobic development alongside this is the best method to maximise performance in the military environment. There are many ways to develop cardio-respiratory fitness through both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.
Understanding of energy systemsThe body uses two main energy systems, aerobic and anaerobic - which breaks down into two further parts. Anaerobic energy systemThe anaerobic system is used during high-intensity exercise where energy demands are higher than aerobic metabolism. (The body’s process in which oxygen is used to make energy). This system is used when doing short activities like sprinting and doesn’t require oxygen to perform. This can produce the by product called lactic acid, and when the build up of lactic acid becomes too great, the body will slow to a rate where it can effectively remove the by product from the body using oxygen. Aerobic energy system (oxidative)The Aerobic system is the most complex of the energy systems and most predominant system used to create energy throughout the day. Energy is produced by the body breaking down substrates with the aid of oxygen. It is used for moderate intensity exercise and is developed and maintained through cardiovascular exercise as discussed above. It is simply any exercise that increases heart rate. This could be walking, housework, gardening, running, hiking, or your daily job. A brief description of the aerobic system. Cardiorespiratory endurance, like strength, runs on a continuum between the ability to sustain high-intensity activity of short duration (anaerobic) and low-intensity activity of long duration (aerobic). The training demands to develop each are very different, and the demands on the body to produce this energy is also different.
In short, to see improvement in your performance in your occupation or sport, you must train specifically to see improvement. More information can be found here. Cardiorespiratory endurance is an indication of a person’s overall physical health. Cardiorespiratory endurance tests monitor how well the heart, lungs, and muscles perform during moderate to high-intensity exercise. Increasing cardiorespiratory endurance improves oxygen uptake in the lungs and heart and can help a person sustain physical activity for longer. Other names for cardiorespiratory endurance include cardiovascular fitness, cardiovascular endurance, and cardiorespiratory fitness. In this article, we discuss what cardiorespiratory endurance is, how a person can measure it, and why it is important. We also look at how to improve cardiorespiratory endurance, including some examples of exercises. Share on PinterestJumping rope can improve cardiorespiratory endurance. Cardiorespiratory endurance measures how well the body performs during long periods of exercise. A person with high cardiorespiratory endurance can sustain high-intensity activities over an extended period without getting tired. Measuring a person’s cardiorespiratory endurance involves examining how well their body takes in and utilizes oxygen. When a person inhales, their lungs fill up with air and some of the oxygen it contains passes into the bloodstream. This oxygen-rich blood then travels to the heart, which circulates it around the body to the tissues and organs that need it. The muscles require an adequate supply of oxygen and other nutrients to work properly during high-intensity or extended periods of exercise. If the muscles do not get enough nutrients, waste products begin to accumulate and cause fatigue. A person’s level of cardiorespiratory endurance can directly affect their physical performance. Tests that measure cardiorespiratory endurance include: Metabolic equivalentsMetabolic equivalents (METs) refers to the ratio between the energy expended during physical activity and the energy expended while at rest. Finding a person’s MET involves measuring how much oxygen their body uses at rest. Maximum oxygen uptakeMaximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) test determines the maximum amount of oxygen the body is capable of using during high-intensity activities, such as sprinting or biking. The VO2 max test typically involves running on a treadmill or pedaling on a stationary bike as fast as possible. During the test, the person wears a chest strap or other body attachment that records their heart rate and a face mask that measures oxygen consumption. Cardiorespiratory endurance indicates a person’s level of aerobic health and physical fitness. This information can benefit everyone, not just professional athletes. Having a high cardiorespiratory endurance generally means that a person can perform high-intensity exercise for longer. People trying to lose weight may want to focus on increasing their cardiorespiratory endurance because doing higher-intensity aerobic activities can help a person burn more calories. Scientific research also suggests some other potential health benefits from having an improved cardiorespiratory endurance. For example:
People can improve their cardiorespiratory endurance through regular exercise. The authors of a 2019 study reported that resistance training, endurance training, and high-intensity interval training led to improvements in cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength among adults who were aged 40–65 years old and who were not previously physically active. A 2017 study investigated the effectiveness of a 12-week cross-circuit training program in students who were overweight and had intellectual disabilities. The researchers found participants who followed the training program had an improved exercise endurance, muscle strength, and body mass index. The following exercises can help improve cardiorespiratory endurance, build muscle, and burn calories. People can perform these physical activities at home or add them to their gym routine. Try doing these exercises in sets of 10–15 repetitions, or as many repetitions as possible for 1 minute with a 20-second break in between sets. Jumping jacks:
Burpees:
Mountain climbers (running planks):
Side-shuffle touches:
Other exercises that can help improve cardiorespiratory fitness include:
Cardiorespiratory endurance is a measure of how well the heart, lungs, and muscles perform during moderate to high-intensity physical activity. Getting regular physical activity, especially aerobic exercise, can improve cardiorespiratory endurance. Aerobic exercises can help promote heart and lung health and improve how well the body circulates and utilizes oxygen. |