Are You Really Aerobic?

Learn How to Calculate Your Maximum Aerobic Range.

Do you jog? Ride a bike? Use an elliptical? Row?

If so, how do know if you’re exercising aerobically?

Many of our patient including those on the Zerona laser exercise, but not always correctly. People commonly exercise too hard. They become frustrated when they can't lose fat over certain areas of the body. Even guys who pound the weights all day will complain that although they have rock hard abs they are located under some Pillsbury Dough.

To exercise aerobically is to have oxygen available for your cells to burn fat and create energy. If you exercise too hard for your fitness level, oxygen will not be available to cells performing the work. Muscle cells can make energy without oxygen. This is called anaerobic glycolosis. Aside from being very inefficient (not much energy is produced) it conserves fat and burns sugar. In other words, you will create muscle mass but will not lose fat. I’ve discussed aerobic versus anaerobic exercise in greater depth here.

In this post I’m going to teach you an easy way to exercise near your maximum aerobic range or MAR. Your MAR is based upon your age and your heart rate. As we age we become aerobically less efficient by about 1% per year. This means that you need to adjust your MAR each year to ensure you don’t exceed your aerobic capacity and become anaerobic.

Here’s a simple formula to help you determine your Maximum Aerobic Range:
Subtract your age from 180. This number represents the top of your MAR.
Subtract 10 heartbeats below that. This is the bottom of your range.

For example: If you’re 40 years old, your MAR is 130 to 140.

Here are some exercise tips:

1. Exercise using long muscles like leg muscles. Arm curls won't do it.

2. Wear a heart monitor to know your current heart rate. A simple model by Polar is sufficient for most people.

3. Start slow and with gradually work-out more intensity over no less than 15 minutes before you enter into your MAR.

4. If you just started exercising you may want to just spend 5 minutes in your zone and then gradually warm down over 15 minutes to around 80 beats per minute before stopping. If you're in good shape exercise up to 30 minutes in your zone before your warm down.

5. Exercise 5 days a week. Take it slow. It's more about frequency than intensity. Make it a fun routine.

6. Vary the type of exercise. One day jog/walk, bike the next, then row. The more the merrier.

7. Lastly, Feel Confident! You're exercising the correct way to burn fat.

I'll publish another post on the importance of ANaerobic exercise soon.