Physical activities are classified into three categories based on their overall impact on the human body. Strength training, stretching, and aerobics will help you stay active, control your weight, lower your risk of chronic diseases, strengthen your bones and muscles, and improve your mental health and mood.
Aerobic Exercises
Aerobic exercises are any physical activity that engages big muscle groups and causes the body to utilize more oxygen, allowing it to work for longer periods. This type of exercise is commonly referred to as cardiovascular exercise. Aerobic exercise, which raises your heart and breathing rate, is beneficial to a variety of bodily functions. It strengthens your heart, improves lung capacity, reduces the risk of several diseases, boosts the immune system, raises “good” HDL cholesterol, and lowers “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, while also increasing your endurance.
One of the most common reasons for people to start an aerobic activity is to lose weight. Cardio is an excellent fat-burning exercise for people seeking to slim down.
Anaerobic Exercises
Anaerobic exercises are a type of physical activity that breaks down glucose in the body without using oxygen; anaerobic means “without oxygen”. Generally, these exercises are of short length with high intensity. They include weightlifting, sprinting, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), plyometrics, and jumping rope.
Anaerobic exercises are beneficial for people of all ages and fitness levels because it helps to prevent the natural loss of lean muscle mass that occurs as we age. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that children and adolescents incorporate them into their daily 60 minutes of physical activity three days per week. Adults should aim to do moderate or intense muscle-strengthening workouts that target all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms). two days or more per week.
Strengthening your muscles not only makes you stronger, but also improves heart health, helps manage your blood sugar levels, maintain muscle tissue, improve bone health, control body fat assists with weight control, improves balance and posture, lowers your risk of injuries, decreases your risk of falls, and reduces stress and pain in the lower back and joints.
Flexibility Exercises
Flexibility exercises are a type of exercise that is used to increase the range of motion of joints and lengthen muscles. stretching the muscles regularly makes them longer and more flexible, which will help you improve your athletic performance, decrease your risk of injuries, enable your muscles to work most effectively, help your joints in moving through their full range of motion, and reduce pain and tension.
Athletes should stretch each of the major lower body muscle groups before and after sporting activity for maximum benefit.
Knowing the differences between each type of fitness activity will help set your fitness objectives.