How to Breathe Easier Building Your Cardiorespiratory Endurance

Custom Search

Cardiorespiratory endurance ("CRE") - how does one develop it effectively? Just improve your body's consumption of oxygen.



Sounds easy enough, but here's the deal.

CRE otherwise known as aerobic fitness involves performing exercise at a moderate level of intensity for an extended period of time. Start with a warm up of the muscles, followed by 30 minutes of exercise (at least) and finish with a cool down period to return the heart to its resting rate.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise is different than anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is "with oxygen" and typically involves activities such as running, jogging, bicycling or even speed walking. All of these activities elevate your heart rate since they use larger muscle groups (e.g., quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes).

The aerobic process goes something like this: you increase your breathing as your heart rate climbs causing your lungs to take in more oxygen. This oxygen gets filtered through bronchioles first and then the alveoli (tiny sacs in the lungs that resemble bunches of grapes) where the oxygen is diffused into the blood.

From there the oxygen goes straight to your heart. The heart then circulates the blood along with the oxygen and other nutrients throughout your body. Once the oxygen is inside your muscles it burns fat and carbohydrates for fuel. The more fuel the muscles use the more fit we become and the longer we can exercise.

The Process

Anaerobic and aerobic exercise differ mainly by the duration and intensity of muscular contractions involved. They also generate energy within the muscle differently.



When jogging the glycogen is broken down to produce glucose (sugar), which is then broken down using oxygen to generate energy. Glucose or sugar comes from the food we eat. Carbohydrates such as fruit, bread pasta and cereals are common sources of glucose. These foods are broken down into sugar in our stomachs, and then absorbed into the bloodstream.



In the absence of these carbohydrates, fat metabolism is initiated instead. This is exactly what most of us want who are trying to burn fat and lose weight.

It's best to exercise for 30-60 minutes or more at a moderate intensity. The body metabolizes fat after 30 minutes of aerobic activity. The body recognizes it needs to burn fat if its going to keep going.

Exercising 30 minutes or more helps your body initiate its fat metabolism mechanism.

Naturally, regular aerobic activity improves your body's consumption of oxygen.

Anaerobic Exercise

Anaerobic exercise, in contrast, refers to the initial phase of exercise, or to any short burst of intense exertion, in which the glycogen or sugar is consumed "without oxygen". This generally happens to body builders and sprinters. They've conditioned their bodies to perform at this level of exertion.

You can build your cardiorespiratory endurance effectively by jogging most days of the week. Improving your cardiorespiratory endurance helps burn fat, reduce blood pressure and stress.

Top of Page

Back to Proper Training

Cardiorespiratory Endurance Back to Jogging101.com

Flat Belly Exercises Complete guide on getting your flat belly fast. Get a copy of our new Guide To Losing Belly Fat absolutely free and start getting in shape.


Cartoon copied with permission from www.mchumor.com.