Aerobic exercise is a great way to speed up your weight loss while creating a more healthy, active, and happy you. You may hear a lot of hype about the tremendous weight loss benefits of aerobic activity, but it isn’t just about shedding pounds.
Benefits of Aerobic Exercise after Bariatric Surgery
If you want to improve your overall health, aerobic exercise is hard to beat. As little as 30 minutes a day can do the following:
- Lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce your risk of the blockages that cause heart attacks and strokes.
- Increase your HDL (good) cholesterol.
- Reduce your high blood pressure.
- Reduce your triglyceride levels, which can help ward off heart attacks.
- Decrease your resting heart rate.
- Help prevent osteoporosis with the impact of the activity on your bones.
- Improve your sleep by making you fall asleep more easily and stay asleep for longer periods of time.
- Help your short-term memory.
- Strengthen your immune system.
- Improve your self-esteem.
- Reduce both anxiety and stress.
- Improve your lungs.
- Improve your circulation.
The Best Way to Exercise
Of course, you only reap the many benefits of aerobic exercise when you do it properly. If you don’t, then you risk internal and external injury. First, you must make sure that you exercise for at least one half hour per day. The benefits are collective, so you don’t have to work out for 30 minutes straight. Instead, you can break it up into three 10-minute sessions.
Next, you need to work out within your target heart rate in order to get all the benefits of aerobic exercise. To determine your target heat rate, subtract your age from 220. Multiply the result by .75 and you have your target heart rate. Exceeding this rate while you exercise can be dangerous, especially if you’re not in optimal shape.