Aerobic Workouts for Women

Aerobic exercises are known to improve the consumption of oxygen in the body. There are various types of aerobic exercises, which can be done at the gym, outdoors or in the confines of your home. If you have not been working out for a very long period of time or if you want to start exercising, then you can do so with the help of aerobic workouts. But before that, we will quickly see in brief what aerobic exercises are about.

Aerobics has been defined as 'any rhythmic activity, which makes use of large muscle groups for a sustained period of time'. It can also be defined as 'an activity, which increases the need for oxygen in the body'. These exercises are known to strengthen the heart and the lungs.

While a person is doing these cardiovascular exercises, the muscles demand oxygen rich blood, whereas, carbon dioxide and also a lot of waste products are given out. Due to this, the heart beats very fast, to meet the increased demand of oxygen.

With regular aerobic exercises, the heart becomes stronger and is able to cope up with the muscles' demands easily. Each and everyone, regardless of their weight, age or gender are known to benefit from these exercises.

Now that we have understood about aerobic exercises, let us turn our attention towards aerobic exercises for women.

Walking can seem as an age-old exercise, but it is a wonderful cardiovascular exercise, if you want to increase your heart rate to moderate or higher levels. To increase the heart rate to moderate levels, you will have to walk fast, a casual stroll in the park is of no use.

If you want to increase your heart rate to higher levels, you can try power walking, which is just a variation in regular walking, but with higher intensity. Another way to increase the intensity of your exercise is to use weighted shoes. It helps in improving muscle tone in the lower body and also increases the amount of energy spent.

Tying ankle weights is another option a lot of people use. However, it is not recommended as they put a large amount of stress on the ankle and knee joints, which can lead to injuries.

How long has it been since you have enjoyed the beauty of nature? Running and jogging can be one of the aerobic activities you would like to try, just to give the noisy gyms a skip. It will also help you to reconnect with nature and burn fat simultaneously.

Swimming is another good fitness workout for women. With the option of indoor swimming pools now available, it has become an all year round aerobic workout option. This is an activity which can be practiced, even if someone has an history of injuries, due to some other aerobic activity. Along with burning fat, swimming also helps to elongate the muscles.

If you are a gym animal, there are many equipment in the gym which you can make use of, for aerobic workouts. There are machines like treadmills, elliptical trainers, step machines and stationary cycles. Normally, most of the gyms do offer these machines for workout. You will have to decide, which machine suits you the best and get going.

These days, there are a number of cardio classes available. Women usually are very fond of these classes. Almost all the gyms have been providing step or bench workout classes. These days, there are also other classes like spinning, power pump, aerobic dance classes, water aerobics etc. These classes are also provided in studios and local recreation centers along with gyms.

This is a wonderful low stress, high intensity, aerobic workout for women. You can choose to bike outdoors on the street or you can choose to go mountain biking.

If you want to take up an aerobic activity at home, then jumping rope is a wonderful option for you to explore. This is a high intensity workout, which has to be done continuously for a considerable amount of time. For a variation in rope jumping, you can try skipping with one leg as well.

This is an all-encompassing exercise, which is a combination of running, cycling techniques with kick, and glide skiing techniques. It is said to be a complete workout for the back, shoulders, chest, core, buttocks and legs.

As a woman you will want to increase your bone density along with decreasing the pace of calcium loss in the body. Hiking is the route you may want to take. One hour of hiking per week, is sufficient enough to keep you looking fresh, energetic, and slim. It is also a great option for weight loss.

You can try most of these aerobic workouts. If you are bored of one activity, you can try another one. Another option would be to circuit train with a combination of 2 or 3 workouts per week, so that your body has some challenge every week.