Cardiovascular or aerobic conditioning is a true measure of how efficiently your body works, uses oxygen and burns fat, and nothing is more important to overall health and fitness. This is especially true for a firefighter.
While more media attention is given to the tragic stories of firefighters losing their lives in flashovers and building collapses, the leading cause of death for firefighters across is the country is heart attack.
Aerobic conditioning can give these heroes the edge they need when they're called upon to operate under extreme conditions thereby reducing their risk of a cardiovascular incident (heart attack or stroke) as well as enabling them to perform their jobs even better.
The human body will respond to the caloric demands of running or any other aerobic activity by burning lots of fat.
When you're training aerobically (when your heart is working at 60% to 90% of its maximum capacity), not only are you training the heart to pump more efficiently, thereby reducing it's ultimate workload and increasing its ability to do work, but stored body fat becomes the major source of fuel being burned.
At a heart rate that's less than 60% or greater than 90% the body is not working aerobically, and will burn less fat but use stored glucose as its primary energy supply.
It's necessary that we burn some sugar as well as fat, the goal is to burn more fat, (as well as reduce serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels).
A properly administered aerobic exercise program, that is, exercising in the target heart rate zone three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes, safely achieves that goal. And, it not only burns fat while you're actually engaged in it but teaches the body to be a more efficient fat burner on a twenty-four hour a day basis.
Examples of Cardiovascular Exercises:
- Jogging
- Walking
- Swimming
- Stair Climber
- Stationary Bike
- Rowing Machine
Related:
The Firefighter's Workout Book contains over 50 illustrated exercises and routines, including strength, aerobic and stretching programs for every level of fitness.
