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Cardiovascular Fitness What exactly does it mean to be fit? There are a number of ways that physical fitness can be defined. One important way is to think of it in terms of your cardiovascular efficiency. The obvious goal of any regular aerobic exercise program is to improve your body's cardiovascular capabilities. There is a direct relationship between your cardiovascular health and the length and quality of your life. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, improves the functioning of blood vessels, helps in keeping blood pressure and cholesterol levels lower and improves your muscle's ability to use sugar. You have probably also have heard that it helps reduce inflammation in your circulatory system which is a key player in the development of a number of chronic health conditions. There are also the added benefits of stress reduction, increased functioning of the immune system, and improved psychological wellbeing. As far as your physical health is concerned, the key factor has been and always will be the effect regular aerobic exercise has on your cardiovascular system. Studies have shown that regular exercise can add anywhere from 3 to 4 years of "healthy" living on to your life. In other words, 3-4 additional years of no cardiovascular disease. The more regular and intensive the exercise, the greater the benefit. But the bottom line is, any amount, whether it be low, moderate or high intensity exercise, is beneficial and will increase the likelihood of living longer and better. Given your age, what should your level of cardiovascular fitness be? There are a couple of ways to find this out. The most accurate way of measuring your cardiovascular fitness is to determine what your maximum oxygen consumption is during exercise. This is done through a rather extensive and expensive test which has you perform an exercise while being hooked up to a breathing mask. This test measures the volume of air inhaled and the composition the air you exhale. In addition to this, there are also treadmill tests your doctor can perform which will give you an accurate reading of your cardiovascular fitness. There is, however, a simpler and somewhat less expensive method to gain this kind of information. Various exercise machines such as treadmills and elliptical trainers now have what are called MET readouts for peak exercise capacity. METs (metabolic equivalents) is the typical way exercise capacity is measured. Your basic healthy, middle-aged man or woman have a MET reading that is in the 8-10 range. People in peak condition such as athletes will have MET readings in the teens. Some long distance runners and well-conditioned athletes will have readings as high as the low 20's. Hitting 100% or higher of the MET capacity for your age and sex, is the goal. Anything below that starts to become a concern because it would tend to suggest that there may be some impairments within your cardiovascular system, i.e. your heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles. If you are at 85% or lower, you need to sit up and take notice. If you haven't been exercising at all or doing very little of it, you need to get moving. We are not talking about being a marathon runner either. Start out with little steps - literally, if necessary, and get on a regular aerobic exercise routine. Walk, jog, ride, swim, play a sport, or whatever. Just start doing it. Once you get used to it, you will love it and you may also find yourself not only living longer, but living "healthy" longer. Next Article: Moderate vs. Intensive Exercise |