Health and well-being: the importance of the cardio-vascular system
This article is written by Professor Diana Tomasi, Professor of Sport Sciences, for over 30 years, at the G. B. Quadri di Vicenza High School and Head of the middle distance sports disciplines of Atletica Vicentina.
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Last time we talked about the importance of joint mobility for human health and well-being. But having an efficient cardiovascular system is equally important.
Man is not made for a sedentary life: we must try to overcome the laziness that often assails us and remember that motor activity is one of the two keys to accessing a state of general well-being that we must all strive for.
The other key to access well-being is food, or rather good nutrition. Feeding well does not mean eating a lot, on the contrary: feeding well means providing our body with everything it needs to live without imbalance, avoiding on the one hand situations of deficiency (for example, deficiency of some vitamins or some mineral salt) and on the other excesses of some macronutrients.
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Going back to our cardiovascular system, we suggest you do these simple exercises every day or at least on alternate days. First put on a suit and a pair of sneakers. If the weather is nice, it is best to start with a half hour walk. Exit, find a non-trafficked route and start running slowly or, if there are difficulties in running, walk briskly for 30 minutes. Quick step means that in that time you must try to travel at least 3000 meters (100 meters per minute).
Come back and take another 5 minutes to jump on the spot, using a rope (boxer style, to understand). Both running (or fast running) and hopping are exercises in which the heart rate increases, also considerably depending on the intensity of the workout. Obviously it is good to never exceed your maximum heart rate, indeed it is good to move in a range that goes from 60 to 80% of the maximum heart rate. This range, called steady state training, induces a series of advantages such as the reduction of body fat, the improvement of the anaerobic threshold, the capillarization and ultimately improves the health of your cardio-vascular system.
In addition to the maximum heart rate, the problem of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) should also be posed, but in view of maximum simplification, we avoid asking ourselves what our personal maximum values are in terms of heart rate and oxygen consumption.
These values are linked to various factors, such as age, resting heart rate, the subject’s training status.
We prefer to suggest instead an empirical method to be sure not to go too fast, especially not to reach or exceed the maximum heart rate. The easiest and most intuitive way to be sure that the heart rate is not too high is to talk to someone while doing aerobic motor activity, or, if on their own, to hum a song. If you can speak or sing without excessive worries while you are running (or marching quickly, or hopping) then you are certainly still well below your maximum heart rate.
If it rains or you don’t want to go out, remember that jumping rope is an excellent aerobic exercise and really consumes many calories. If you don’t have one at home, get a rope (there are various types of rope, plastic with a metal core, leather, and they all cost a few pennies …) but we recommend a very normal rope with two knobs on the ends. The length depends on the height of the person. Put the rope under your feet and holding it in both ends (where there are handles) with both hands check that it reaches just under the armpits. If you haven’t jumped the rope for a long time (you will remember that it was a game that many of us did as children) start very slowly. You will see that gradually you will regain the rhythm and confidence that you had as a child. If you want some ideas on how to jump with the rope in hand, take a look at this short video:
In the next post we will talk to you about how to improve coordination skills.
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Video source: 361Magazine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-6W2yNOb1I
