Republic of the Philippines

Cagayan State University

www.csu.edu.ph

Topic 3

Lesson 6: Understanding the Aerobics Exercise

Lesson Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

A. understand the origin of Aerobics;

B. compose a jingle about the benefits of aerobics exercises; and
C. recognize the importance of aerobic activities in one’s life.

Readings

The concept of aerobics was pioneered in the United States by

physician Kenneth H. Cooper and popularized in his books, Aerobics (1968),
which discussed scientific exercise programs through running, walking,
swimming, and bicycling; and The Aerobics Way (1977), which describes
research findings and case histories, answers questions about exercise for
men, women, children, senior citizens, and athletes, and includes a program
for heart-attack patients. Cooper devised a form of exercise that helped to
prevent coronary artery disease. He called that system Aerobics. These
exercises were initially invented for astronauts who were carefully monitored
for pulse rate and oxygen consumption. Later, it was observed that these
types of exercises were also useful for most individuals. Then different forms
of aerobics came about.

Cooper’s system uses point charts to rate the aerobic value of various
exercises for different age-groups. As individuals progressively upgrade the
quantity and quality of their exercise, they can gauge the improvement in
their physical condition through the point system. In the 1980s aerobics was
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popularized by Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons through workout videotapes

and instructional programs. Sometimes called group fitness, aerobics is most
often practiced in health and fitness clubs where groups of one to two dozen
exercisers follow the lead of an instructor whose movements are synchronized
to up-tempo popular music.

In 1983, Howard and Karen Schwartz organized Sport Fitness

International (SFI) to oversee a new competitive sport. They developed sport
aerobics. Sport aerobics competition originally featured in four categories:
Individual male, individual female, mixed pairs, and trio. In 2002, the
competition included for groups of six athletes. Competitors are judged on a
one-minute, 45-second routine done with music. Judges use two criteria-
artistic merit and technical, with a maximum of 10 points each. The
International Gymnastics Federation formally adopted sport aerobics as
gymnastics discipline in 1996 after their first world championship in 1995.

Doing aerobics increases cardiorespiratory fitness, which is one of

the five essential components of physical fitness. Cardiorespiratory fitness is
the ability of the body's circulatory systems to maintain oxygen levels and
supply fuel during sustained physical activity.

While aerobic fitness is important for doing aerobics, there's more to it

than that. Being aerobically fit means that you have a strong heart, circulatory
system and lungs, and those factors affect you far beyond your ability to
perform aerobic activity. Your heart and lungs have some level of involvement
in every single bodily function you have. That's because your entire body
requires a well-oxygenated blood supply to function effectively.

A strong heart and circulatory system allows your body to deliver the
necessary fuel to all of the outposts in your body via your blood flow. Not only
that, but a strong heart pumps more effectively, providing more blood to your
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body with each beat. Similarly, healthy lungs bring in oxygen and expel
byproducts efficiently and effectively. Both are essential in avoiding heart
disease and other cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.

The importance of aerobics goes beyond your body's internal processes,

however. If you are not aerobically fit, you're going to feel it as you go about
your day. Maintaining aerobics fitness can help you to experience a better
quality of life, because life's daily activities become that much easier when
you can perform daily tasks - like walking up the stairs without getting winded
or chasing down a toddler who saw his chance to make a break for it and
took it.