Cycle News Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Cardiovascular exercise

The term 'cardiovascular exercise' refers to the training of our heart and lungs. As the heart is a muscle, it needs regular and sustained exercise to allow the body to function optimally.

Over the next couple of weeks we will examine how to get the most out of cycling and rowing, the two machines most common in our homes and fitness centres.

Most of us associate cardio training with working up a sweat, from jogging around the block, hitting the cross trainer, to attending an exercise class.

Anything with a prolonged period of movement using energy and raising our heart rate is a cardio workout.

This is fine and not incorrect. However, a large proportion of us have a tendency to switch off during cardiovascular exercise and in doing so we miss an opportunity to challenge our bodies.

As cardio training can be anything from a gentle walk or swim for some people to pounding a heavy bag, for others it really is a universal way of basing your exercise routine around your own body, goals and means.

You may have seen all of the advertising lately extolling the benefits of walking, this is about as basic as it gets but there is an underlying point; as a nation we are not active enough.

A friend of mine has a small child and a pregnant wife, his job dominates his week and his family (understandably) his spare time, however he always finds a way to squeeze a 20 or 30-minute jog into whatever time he can.

By maintaining this routine he has lost the ability to perform his party trick of balancing a full pint on his stomach (standing up) but I can assure you he is far happier as a result.

1) The seat should be just below hip height. If it's too low it increases pressure on knees and hip joints and over time this can cause discomfort and injuries. It also allows the muscles to lengthen and gives you optimum control and the full force of the pedal.

2) When you're sitting on the bike, your hips should be at 12 o'clock and your ankle at 6 o'clock. There should be a slight bend in your knees, about 5%, so the joints are almost fully extended and you're using the full range of movement.

3) This is the mid-point of the cycle and the foot should be at 3 o'clock. This means you can push and pull the pedal and use all your muscles, not just the front ones.