AEROBICS AND SPORTS

AEROBICS

Aerobics is a system of conditioning of the body to increase the efficiency of the body's oxygen. Typical aerobic exercises are

• Walking
• Running
• Swimming
• Dancing and
• Cycling

All of the above exercises stimulate heart and lung activity long enough to produce beneficial changes in the body, in addition to burning excess fat/ calories.

SPORTS

What about sports? If played for the proper amounts of time, sports that require a lot of running can develop your heart-lung capacity. But sports as played by most people are of little if any help in providing protection against heart attack. For example, you can play golf all day without having to draw a deep breath.

If you use a caddy or golf cart, your heart may never come close to the desired rate of 130. On the other hand, an all-out-effort-like 100 yards dash in 10 seconds-also gives your heart too little time to exert itself. The action in bowling, volleyball, badminton and most games of tennis is too intermittent to provide the necessary sustained exertion. Because of the many breaks in play in football, you're likely to find it more convenient and less time-consuming to gain aerobic points by walking or running.

The great value of sports and calisthenics generally lies not in their aerobic value but in the other areas; they're fun to perform daily and provide release from tension. They burn up calories. They increase muscular strength, agility, co-ordination.