The Benefits of Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Cardiorespiratory fitness is the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen-rich blood to skeletal muscles during sustained physical activity.2 Cardiorespiratory fitness is one of five components to health-related physical fitness; muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition are the other components.2 Having a good cardiorespiratory fitness program is very important to health and wellness as well as being able to perform normal daily activities without excessive fatigue.

Integrated cardiorespiratory training is an approach of planning training programs that systematically progresses clients through various stages to achieve peak levels of physiologic, physical, and performance adaptations by placing stress on the cardiorespiratory system.2 To make sure your cardiorespiratory training progresses in an organized fashion and to ensure continual adaptation and minimize overtraining and injury, stage training should be followed.  In stage training there are three zones to keep in mind.

-Zone 1= 65%-75% Heart Rate Max

-Zone 2= 76%-85% Heart Rate Max

-Zone 3= 86%-95% Heart Rate Max

Using these target heart rate zones of , you can develop a timeline and to progress your workout to the next stage.  In stage 1, slowly progress to a 30-60 minute walk/jog keeping your heart rate in zone 1.  When this can be done, you can progress to stage 2 where you raise your heart rate up to zone 2 for 1 minute, then back down to zone 1 for 3 minutes for 3 cycles.  In this stage you can then progress to a 1:2 and then a 1:1 ratio.  Once this has been met, you then can progress to stage 3.  In this stage you will be going in between zone 2 and zone 3 heart rate max, and progress up like stage 2 for a 1:2 and then a 1:1 ratio. Begin your workout with 5-10 warm up and follow the conditioning with a 5-10 minute cooldown.

The primary functions of the cardiorespiratory system during aerobic exercises are to deliver oxygen and other nutrients to the working muscles and remove metabolites and waste products.1 Cardiorespiratory fitness helps prevent chronic diseases plus improves health,  quality of life and should always be a top priority in creating  your workout routine.

Resources:

1Baechle, T. R., Earle, R. W., & National Strength & Conditioning Association (U.S.). (2000). Essentials of strength training and conditioning. Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics.

2 Clark, M., Lucett, S., & Corn, R. J. (2008). NASM essentials of personal fitness training. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.