The magic of fresh air
An ounce of oxygen leads to the bounce in your body. As you inhale, your lungs pluck the oxygen from the air, which includes nitrogen and other gases like carbon dioxide. The lungs then circulate the oxygen through your body. The pure oxygen is absorbed by your red blood cells into your haemoglobin and these tiny sponges of oxygen bob in your bloodstream and feed the tissues (muscle, bone, nerves). A group of cells form a tissue, and a group of tissues form your organs — heart, lungs, stomach, etc. These sponges squeeze out the oxygen and absorb the waste carbon from your tissue. They then bob back to your lungs from where the waste gas is expelled as you exhale.
Your fitness hinges on your lungs’ processing power. The more oxygen you contribute to your tissues, the better your body works. Aerobic exercise does precisely that — strengthens your lungs and literally expands your breathing space around the lungs. Love your lungs. And live with love and fresh air. A space that is increasingly more difficult to find in these polluted and climatically-challenged times.
Aerobic training also steps up the haemoglobin in your blood — adds more red blood cells in harmony with the enhanced lung capacity. Those sponges that we spoke about earlier now united with haemoglobin, also relieve you of carbon dioxide and other wastes.
The blood vessels of an inactive person harden over time due to lack of exercise. This progressive clogging of the arteries narrows the lanes of blood flow and the jam results in high blood pressure. The ideal blood pressure is 120/80. The former (systolic pressure) is when the heart is pumping blood into your system. The latter (diastole pressure) is when the heart literally takes a breather. A pause from the pumping.
Your body has two kinds of metabolism. The first is the transformation of food burned by oxygen to become energy. The transformation of food then forms new tissues. Your body requires carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and fat to maintain its metabolic equilibrium. These components work best with a balanced diet.
Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart by improving the elasticity of heart muscles. And coordinates with the fibres to pump the blood out of the heart with every beat.
Sit still without any thoughts and focus on your breath. Make it slow and deep for five minutes. Now, place your index and middle finger on your wrist or below your jaw. Count for 10 seconds and multiply that number by six — this is your resting pulse rate. A count of up to 70 beats per minute indicates you’re generally in good health. A count over that magical 70 means your heart is strained and working overtime. Slow down, pause. Repeat this process two or three times a week at different times and after various activities.
If you are either doubtful about your health or your fitness, check with your family physician to be safe and sure of your health and fitness level. And if you are either over 35 and/or have hypertension, diabetes, etc, in your family tree, forget the finger-pulse test. Get a medical check-up. This advice is for late tuners. And serves as a reminder to those who need a check-up but haven’t gone in for it yet.
Exercise hastens the heartbeat. Which is why you require medical clearance. Paradoxically, the best way to lower the resting heart rate is to make it beat faster for limited periods of exercise (anaerobic). This exertion strengthens the heart and enables it to perform better at a lower rate. Let’s take the car for example. When all four cylinders work at the optimum level, the engine purrs to perfection. If one cylinder weakens, three cylinders take its load and lead in the heart’s performance. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart by improving the elasticity of heart muscles. And coordinates with the fibres to pump the blood out of the heart with every beat. Unexercised or under-exercised muscles are akin to the automobile groaning instead of purring smoothly. The general rule of thumb: the slower the heartbeat, the more efficient it is. And the healthier you are.
The writers are authors of Fitness for Life and Simply Spiritual – You Are Naturally Divine and teachers of the Fitness for Life programme
