Aerobic Fitness

2 Pages 384 Words

Aerobic fitness is related to health. In the United States, over 800,000 people die each year from coronary artery disease (CAD) which is the number one killer in the United States. The risk factors for CAD include: Inactivity, high cholesterol levels, smoking, overweight, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Numerous studies have shown that inactivity is the most important factor responsible for CAD. It is twice as important as high cholesterol levels, and four times more important than high blood pressure. Consequently, exercise reduces the risk of dying from a heart attack and it is an effective method of rehabilitation in people who have suffered from a heart attack.
Since aerobic fitness is a measure of the ability to sustain prolonged efforts, it determines the degree of fatigue that almost everybody experiences in daily life. The higher your aerobic fitness, the less fatigue you experience.
Aerobic fitness indicates such capabilities as walking, running and climbing; therefore, it is an important requirement in many sports, recreational activities and in some occupations.
Aerobic fitness may be the most important asset in emergency situations such as floods, earthquakes, lost in the wilderness, and other crises. The ability to reach safety or to survive under such circumstances may depend upon one's endurance in walking, running, swimming, climbing, and similar activities.
Aerobic fitness is a very important factor in growth and development during childhood and adolescence. It is also an important factor in the aging process. A high level of aerobic fitness during the growing years indicates good development of the muscles, bones, and cardiorespiratory system. It is more important in this respect than body weight. The UFT allows, for the first time, to classify the aerobic fitness of children and adolescents.
In advanced age, aerobic fitness provides a measure of how fit one is physiologically. A 65 year old individual wit...