All exercise programs require that you begin by building an aerobic base - a period of time during which your entire exercise program is exclusively based upon aerobic activity without any anaerobic exercise at all.
This base period may last from a minimum of two to a maximum of about eight months, during which your aerobic system is developed and maximized. This base period is then followed by anaerobic workouts of one, two, or sometimes three per week.
Properly developing your aerobic system will not only make you a better athlete, but it will also burn off the extra fat from your hips, improve your immune system, give you more energy, and keep you relatively injury-free. In other words it's a way to build your total health and fitness through both the proper conditioning of your metabolism for aerobic and when appropriate, anaerobic training.
By creating an aerobic base, you'll also create a tremendous amount of energy and endurance.
Remember, by expanding your aerobic capacity, you're expanding your body's ability to deliver oxygen (the source of energy and health) to every organ and system of the body.
The problem is that most people try to push themselves beyond their ideal heart rates, and they spend all their time exercising in anaerobic state. If you have not yet built an aerobic base, then all of your anaerobic exercise is at the expense of endurance.
Many people, out of their desire to "whip" themselves into a state of fitness, try to exercise at maximum heart rates.
Traditionally, the formula for maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. For a thirty-year-old, this would mean aiming for a heart rate of 190.
Surely exercising at this intensity for long periods of time is one of the most destructive things you can do to your body: it may make you "fit", but it will do so at the cost of your health.
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