Stay Energetic And Fit With Aerobics

Exercise is essential for both a healthy body and a healthy mind and it can be practiced in many ways such as a simple workout, jogging, walking or dance-based exercises. One such exercise is aerobics. Along with aiding weight loss, improving agility and boosting the immune system, aerobics is good for heart health and mental health.

Aerobics is considered beneficial for women, but it is good for men as well. A Mysore-based yoga and aerobics instructor, Meenu Verma says that be it men or women, aerobics is a good way to maintain health by grooving on energetic tunes. She also mentions that in recent times, the popularity of aerobics has increased not just in women, but in men also.

Types of aerobics

Meenu Verma explains that there are certain types of aerobic exercises and each benefits specific parts of the body. Here are the types of aerobics:

1. Traditional Aerobics:
   This type consists of specified hand and foot movements, done on uptempo music. The moves are divided into two categories- high impact moves and low impact moves.
2. Dance Aerobics:
   Many types of dance styles are followed in this type of aerobics, such as Salsa, Jazz, Hip Hop, as well as Zumba. Dance aerobics is considered ideal for burning calories.
3. Step Aerobics:
   It is a type of cardio exercise, which helps in reducing fat around the legs, hips and waist.
4. Cardio Kickboxing:
   In this, high-intensity cardio exercises like boxing, kickboxing, martial arts, etc. are also practiced along with traditional aerobics. This helps in burning calories and improving the blood circulation in the body, especially in the muscles of the upper body.
5. Aqua Aerobics:
   This type is especially a part of the exercise routine of the athletes. Aqua aerobics is the best option for people who love to swim.
6. Jogging and Skipping:
   Both these exercises can be done either on-spot or by moving from one spot to another.

Benefits of aerobics

Physiotherapist Dr. Vipula Vasistha explains that aerobics can be beneficial for weight loss as well as keeping our immune system strong. In aerobics, there are many such exercises that you perform that help in keeping the muscles in the body agile, strong and fit. This is the reason why aerobics is often considered to be a cardio exercise. Following are the benefits of aerobics:

• Aerobics is very effective in preventing depression or other mental issues.
• It is beneficial in the problem of insomnia.
• Its regular practice increases HDL/good cholesterol in the body and reduces LDL/bad cholesterol.
• It boosts immunity.
• It helps control blood pressure as well as blood sugar levels in the body.
• It helps our heart pump blood better throughout the body and maintains overall heart health.

Precautions to be taken

Aerobics instructor Meenu Verma says that one must begin the practice of aerobics under the supervision of an expert only and with proper guidance. Also, he/she must inform the trainer in advance about any sort of problems related to heart, respiratory system, blood pressure and other chronic conditions. This way, they can help in planning out your workout accordingly.