VERGARA, SHIELA MARIE A.

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HISTORY OF AEROBICS

In the 1960’s, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, a physiologist searched for an effective and easy way of
keeping healthy. His hard work resulted in the various ways of flexing muscles and burning
calories to maintain body fitness. He named his findings AEROBICS.

Since he was an employee of the Air Force, Dr. Cooper’s discovery was initially meant to keep
the astronauts in good shape.

However, in 1968 Cooper broke the secret when he wrote a book titled, ‘Aerobics’ detailing his
simple methods of exercising. Some of the aerobic exercises he mentioned in the book included
cycling, swimming, walking, running and others.

These exercises increase the oxygen consumption in the body that intensifies muscle activity and
in the process burn calories producing sweat.

After the book’s publication Cooper put it out for sale and it was an instant non- fiction best
seller reaching a million sales.

The release of the book was during the technology revolution that had led to increased
redundancy amongst Americans.

It was that time of cable technology when Americans spent most of their free on couches in front
of the screen and when video games were enjoying their first touch.

With over relaxation, there was prevalent weight increase amongst the American community and
many of them were caught in unhealthy conditions.

The timely publication of Cooper’s book saw many people taking on daily aerobic exercises at
home to regain their health.
 Aerobics evolved as a commercial commodity. Exercising programmers were broadcast on
television for the convenience of homes.

And professional trainers emerged as early as 1978. The number of Americans alone practicing
aerobics reached 2 million but shot to 22million after a period of ten years.

The following two decades saw the introduction of aerobic sports. In 1983, sport aerobics was
introduced by Howard and Karen Schwartz. They came up with Sport Fitness International
(SFI).

From local competition this later oversaw the first world championships at San Diego in March
1990. 15 countries attended. The content of Cooper’s book continued its effect beyond American
boundaries.

TYPES OF AEROBICS

Walking
Let’s look at some of the ways a walking habit can improve your health:

 Better cardiovascular fitness

 Stronger leg muscles
 Lower blood pressure
 Lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, bowel cancer and osteoporosis.
It’s also a safe, low-impact exercise that most people can do — and it’s especially good if you’re
overweight, unused to physical activity or pregnant.

Walking for 30 minutes a day at moderate intensity is great. Walking for a longer period of time
is better still. As you get fitter, you will be able to walk more briskly. Walking up and down hills
will also help to boost stamina and leg strength. You’ll get even more benefits from a walk if you
swing your arms as this helps you walk faster and can burn 5 to 10 percent more kilojoules.
Running
Like walking, running is an inexpensive exercise you can do anywhere at a time that suits you. It
is beneficial in helping to improve heart and bone health. Its advantage over walking is that it
improves heart fitness and burns kilojoules at a greater rate. It takes roughly an hour for a walker
to burn the same number of kilojoules that a runner burns in 30 minutes.

Jogging
Jogging is running at a slower pace which is still a great aerobic exercise. Like walking, running
or jogging can be a social activity you can do with a friend or in a group. Many areas have
running clubs which welcome runners of all skill levels.

Swimming
If it’s too hot to walk or run, swimming can be a cool way to get fit. It’s a low-cost workout for
the whole body especially the muscles of the back, shoulder and arms and improves flexibility as
well. It’s a good way to exercise if you’re overweight, pregnant or have joint problems as the
water helps support your weight and can reduce the pressure on your joints. The risk of injury to
muscles, ligaments or joints is also low.

Aquarobics
These exercise sessions are done in a swimming pool and are available at some fitness centres or
through local community health services. Aquarobics is a low-impact way to improve heart
fitness and muscle strength without stressing the joints. It’s particularly suitable for anyone
who’s pregnant, has joint problems and is overweight or unused to exercise.

Cycling
Cycling does double duty as an aerobic workout as well as being a low-cost, eco-friendly form of
transport. It’s good exercise for improving leg strength and toning leg and buttock muscles —
but with less stress on joints compared to running or walking. If you’d rather not ride outdoors,
exercise bikes at home or in a gym are a good alternative.

Spinning classes available at some fitness centres are another indoor cycling option. These
involve simulating different biking activities on a stationary bike — for example, cycling uphill
or sprints — and are choreographed to music.
Rowing
Rowing is a low-impact alternative to running or cycling that can improve heart fitness and
strengthen the muscles of the upper body, back and abdomen. You can enjoy rowing outdoors by
joining a rowing club or hiring a rowboat, or indoors using a rowing machine at the gym or at
home.

Boxing
This is a good aerobic workout that also boosts upper body strength — and helps you let off
steam. Boxing classes are widely available in many gyms. Some classes involve sparring with a
partner — you take it in turns to hold a pad or pads while the other person punches them while
wearing boxing mitts. Others involve no mitts or pads, just air punching and other moves that
simulate boxing training. You can also use a punching bag either at the gym or in your own
home.

Aerobic or ‘cardio’ classes

Available in most gyms and community centres, these classes keep you moving to music using a
variety of different exercises that raise your heart rate.

Team sports
Fast-paced sports such as soccer, netball or basketball provide an aerobic workout, improve
muscle and bone strength — and provide a social activity as well.

Dancing
Faster styles of dancing such as jazz, hip hop, African and Latin American can provide an
aerobic workout and improve flexibility and bone strength as well as being a lot of fun. It’s also
an indoor activity you can do in all weather conditions. Dancing classes are available in many
community centre’s, gyms and dance schools.
IMPORTANT OF AEROBICS
What is the importance of aerobics? First and foremost, doing aerobics increases cardio
respiratory fitness, which is one of the five essential components of physical fitness. Cardio
respiratory fitness is the ability of the body's circulatory systems to maintain oxygen levels and
supply fuel during sustained physical activity.

It isn't as circular as it sounds. While aerobic fitness is important for doing aerobics, there's more
to it than that. Being aerobically fit means that you have a strong heart, circulatory system and
lungs, and those factors affect you far beyond your ability to perform aerobic activity. Your heart
and lungs have some level of involvement in every single bodily function you have. That's
because your entire body requires a well-oxygenated blood supply to function effectively.

A strong heart and circulatory system allows your body to deliver the necessary fuel to all of the
outposts in your body via your blood flow. Not only that, but a strong heart pumps more
effectively, providing more blood to your body with each beat. Similarly, healthy lungs bring in
oxygen and expel byproducts efficiently and effectively. Both are essential in avoiding heart
disease and other cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.
ECOT, JILL T.
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HISTORY OF AEROBICS
Aerobics has gone a long way in the physical exercise programs . Invented in the 1960s by Dr.
Kenneth H. Cooper, a physician at a Texas, United States hospital, it was initially designed as a
form of physical exercise for the prevention of heart diseases. In 1968, Cooper published his
book titled “Aerobics” dealing in exercise programs based on such physical activities as walking,
running, bicycling and swimming, among others. The book was a success among many
Americans who wanted to do away with the bad effects of sedentary lifestyle by engaging in
physical exercises. Within 20 years after 1968, aerobic exercise in various forms expanded in the
U.S. and other countries, having six million participants in 1978 and more than 20 million in
1987. By that time up to the early 1990s, aerobic programs had been reaping commercial
successes with the creation of the Jazzercise program, launching of a television series on
aerobics, and the popularization of cardio boxing exercises through tae bo. Devised by Judi
Sheppard Missett, the Jazzercise program is a 60-minute dance-based fitness program that
merges jazz dance with resistance training. The TV show on aerobic exercises was hosted by
Richard Simmons and led to his release of a series of aerobic exercise videos. Tae bo was
developed by Billy Blanks, a practitioner of taekwondo, to combine ballet and hip-hop dancing
with some forms of martial arts like taekwondo, boxing and karate.

As early as 1982, sport aerobics began to be promoted worldwide by the International Aerobics
Federation through its headquarters in the U.S. and Japan. The sport aerobics became more
popular around the world with the establishment of the Fitness and Aerobics International
Association (FAIA). The association helped organize international championships in the U.S.,
Europe, South America and Asia. In 1990, organizers also held the Suzuki World International
Aerobic Championship, the first of its kind in the world. The competition has been annually
since then. Currently, the International Aerobic Federation (IAF) cooperates with the Federation
Internationale de Gymnastique to control international gymnastics . It also continues to seek
recognition of sport aerobics as an official event in the Olympic Games.

.
TYPES OF AEROBICS
There are different types of aerobics such as dance aerobics, step aerobics, low impact aerobics
and aerobic kickboxing.

Dance aerobics:

If you have no time to exercise, but wish to have a beautiful body, then you can prefer dance
aerobics exercise [Five minute workout]. It is a great fun workout that helps in strengthening
your body, giving energy to carry out your day-to-day activities efficiently and effectively.

There are many benefits of dance aerobics. It helps in losing weight and building body muscles.

Dance aerobics ensures healthy heart and strengthens your lungs. It enhances your blood
circulation, relieves stress and lowers your cholesterol levels.

Different types of dance aerobics include Hi-Lo aerobics, Hip-Hop aerobics, Funk and jazz
aerobics.

Hip-Hop aerobics:

The Hip-Hop aerobics is a dance aerobics routine, which mixes together funk with contemporary
dance. Hip-Hop aerobics incorporates the usage of high energy dance, while focusing on the
entire form of the body.

If you are a beginner, your instructor will direct and teach you the grooves, rhythm, rhyme and
moves required to benefit from dance aerobics. If you want to lose weight fast, this is the most
effective exercise. You might like it so much you might take dance classes for hip hop.

Hi-Lo aerobics:

Hi-Lo Aerobics involves a fast paced routine that includes rapid movement and work on thighs,
abs, calf, heart and so on. You move typically on one side while slanting in position.

Hi-Lo Aerobics involves shuffling, turning, shuffling and doubling the knees back while
sprinting during the routine and taking a profound side lunge at swift paces. Hi-Lo Aerobics
work the abs, heart, calf, legs and thighs.
Funk and jazz aerobics:

Funk and jazz aerobics comprise low-impact workouts, which include jazz steps, funk twists and
yoga.

Step aerobics:

Step aerobics offers a more intense workout. It provides extra boost by incorporating the action
of stepping on to the platform to intensify the workout. It is a form of low impact and does not
stress the joints as much as running and jogging. The action of stepping does not shock the
joints.

During the Step Aerobic exercise, you position a footstep in the frontage, which you step one
foot up, down and up on the other leg, replicating the course of action for quite a few minutes.
The process is intended to tone the lower body.

Low impact aerobics:

Low-impact aerobics are those movements involving large muscle groups used in continuous
rhythmic activity in which at least one foot contacts the floor at all times. It has developed to
decrease the lower leg overuse injuries associated with high-impact classes.

This type of exercise is ideal for seniors, pregnant women and overweight people. It is beneficial
for those who have not exercised for some time. With low impact aerobics, more fit people may
have difficulty achieving required intensity, therefore they are told to use larger movements.

It means when you begin walking, you may walk with slow rate and slowly increase your step
length and move your arms as you walk to get to the same level.

Aerobic kickboxing:

Aerobic kickboxing is also called as cardio boxing or boxing aerobics. It is a tremendous way of
achieving a beautiful body. This type of exercise leads to quick weight loss. You feel more
energetic and enthusiastic at the end of the session.
Aerobic kickboxing is used for toning your body and tightening your muscles and makes you
look younger. It acts as a great stress reliever and enhances your flexibility level and blood
circulation.

IMPORTANCE OF AEROBICS

Aerobic exercise is important for muscle health because it can help strengthen the heart. The
heart is made up cardiac muscle and this type of muscle cannot consciously be controlled. Heart
muscle involuntarily contracts and relaxes in an effort to keep blood circulating throughout the
body. Over time, exercising aerobically and for longer durations can decrease the amount of
times the heart pumps as well as increase the amount of blood that is pumped with each
contraction. This makes for a more efficient heart as it is able to get more work done in less
time. Aerobic exercise is essential to muscle health for several reasons. During aerobic exercise,
your heart rate increases and your blood flows more quickly, carrying more oxygen between
your lungs and muscles. Aerobic activity helps to promote overall health, which in turn makes it
easier to maintain muscle health. Maintaining muscle health helps you to prevent injury.