Posts Tagged ‘level of fitness’

Testing the Fitness of Your Heart

Anytime you start a new fitness program, it is always important to evaluate your current level of fitness. This gives you a baseline for key information about your health and fitness. A fitness evaluation can be performed by a professional, or it can be done by yourself.

Since your fitness program will almost certainly include cardio exercise, you’ll want to know your baseline heart rate. By placing two fingers on your wrist, count the number of times your heart beats in a 60 second period while you are in a “resting” state, i.e., not doing physical exertion. (If you enjoy precision, repeat this over the course of a few days.) A resting heart rate is typically 60-85 beats per minute, and you can expect it do go down after you’ve been exercising regularly.

You should also have your blood pressure checked before you start your exercise program. While some pharmacies have blood pressure machines, they tend to be inaccurate, so you’ll want to have a professional give you a reading. In general, you want you blood pressure to be 120/80 or less. Read more…

The Advantages of Walking

Many doctors advise that walking is a far safer form of activity than jogging when trying to stay fit and it seems that more and more people are adopting this over running in general. In this article we’ll look at the extra benefits walking offers you and why.

Walking is regarded as a very natural way to achieve your fitness goals on a daily basis. It can not only deliver a better level of fitness but also achieve a lot in terms of weight loss. If you are a beginner to walking then it’s advisable to take your new fitness regime in stages so as not to stress your body and muscles too much in the early stages. Ideally you want to reach a daily walk time of 30 minutes to 1 hour. This is what’s recommended in order to help prevent diabetes, heart disease and breast or colon cancer. Read more…