Straight From The Heart

Today we are focusing in on a cardiovascular workout. Let's start with the basics of what this means and why it is important. First off, when we are talking about cardiovascular workouts we are talking about getting your heart rate elevated to a point beyond normal life function. The cardio systems that we are working with are the heart, the veins, the arteries, and the lungs. Basically we are making the heart and lungs work a little bit harder so that they can be better equipped for everyday life, not to mention ready for the kind of exertion that they will need to put forth in athletic competition such as roller derby. A few factors need to be considered when we assess cardio health including how intense and how frequent your body needs to be ready to perform. We also need to look at the amount of time under stress that your body will need to perform as well as health factors associated with your daily life. Alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco use are two of the biggest things that need to be taken into account when we talk about this type of exercise. Both of these substance cause your heart t work harder at baseline and can certainly cause you to be winded easier, light headed, or cause your heart to race like a horse on speed. The positive thing is that the more cardio you do the better prepared your body is for external sources of stimulation. There is a lot of talk about target heart rate and maximum performance capability. The easiest way to assess whether you are effectively in your target heart rate is to try to talk. When you are within a good range you should have to breath in the middle of a sentence. If you can rattle on telling a story, you are not working hard enough. If you cannot get a word out because you are gasping for air, you are working too hard if that level is to be sustained for an extended period of time( roughly 7 min. or more). So there are a few of the basics. Let's put them to work and keep in mind that this can be any form of movement that elevates your heart rate, not just running or training on an elliptical!


5 min. warm up
Stretch
4x 400 meters @ 2 min pace
45 min. of moderate cardio movement
10 superman hold for 3 sec.
25 regular crunches
5 min. cool down
Stretch

Enjoy!

J