What is cardiovascular fitness?

Cardiovascular fitness is our body’s ability to provide our muscles, organs, and other body parts with oxygen as we perform physical activity or exercise. 

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Maintaining a healthy heart is essential for longevity and can be achieved with effort and determination. Diet and lifestyle play a crucial role in maintaining heart health. Physical activity is something we cannot exclude when discussing ways to boost heart health. Low cardiovascular fitness causes risk of stroke, heart failure, and mortality due to cardiovascular complications. At the same time, good cardiovascular fitness ensures better endurance.

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Gauze in this blog explains what cardiovascular fitness is and how we can achieve it.

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Your heart is a mirror of your lifestyle

Cardiovascular fitness, also known as cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), conveys a great deal about our health and potential outcomes. It tells us that the higher the CRF level, the lower the risk of developing heart conditions.

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Risk factors that reduce cardiovascular fitness

Several conditions, traits, and habits increase our risk for coronary heart disease; some are under our control, while others are not. It is the ones that we can influence that help alleviate the risk of heart disease. These are

• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Unhealthy diet
• Inactivity

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These risk factors impact cardiovascular fitness and, if left uncontrolled, can lead to cardiovascular diseases.

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Understanding cardiovascular fitness

The functions of the heart and lungs are interrelated. The heart pumps blood throughout the body in two circuits, the pulmonary (right side) and systemic (left side) circuits.

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The two systems work closely, allowing approximately 16 seconds for blood to travel through the body and circulate five quarts in a minute. When everything is running smoothly, it is good cardiopulmonary health.

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Working of the heart and lungs

The right side pumps the deoxygenated blood to the lungs, where it gets oxygenated. 

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From the lungs, the blood is passed to the left side of the heart to be pumped to other parts of the body. 

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After all the oxygen in the blood is consumed, the process is repeated

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Mechanism affecting cardiovascular fitness.

Diseases of the heart are collectively referred to as cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Reduced cardiovascular fitness leads to heart failure and ischemia, which reduces the body’s ability to use energy efficiently. Consequently, the cells die, and the heart can no longer function properly. Treatment and prevention help to maintain cardiovascular fitness and protect our overall health.

• Obstructed blood flow: as in coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, stenosis, and aneurysm, when the blood flow is blocked
• Inhibited blood flow: as seen in valvular heart diseases, myocardial ischemia, and constrictive pericarditis, when blood flow to the heart is reduced
• Reduced return of blood flow to the heart, as when there is venous insufficiency, orthostatic hypotension (fainting), and pericardial effusion(water or fluid accumulates).

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Benefits of cardiovascular fitness

Physical fitness encompasses strength, endurance, flexibility, mental well-being, and cardiovascular health. It

• Saves money: cardiovascular diseases are an economic burden, besides healthcare costs
• Increases life expectancy: Healthy people tend to live longer
• Reduces risk of injury: Regular exercise and physical activity increase muscle strength, flexibility, and stability
• Prevents diseases: It prevents us from metabolic diseases such as diabetes
• Improves quality of life: A Sedentary lifestyle causes cardiorespiratory diseases, obesity, and mental diseases

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Assessing cardiovascular fitness

Cardiovascular fitness can be assessed in several ways; the most common is VO₂ max. It measures the amount of oxygen our body can use during exercise; higher scores indicate that the heart and lungs are in good condition.

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A low resting heart rate indicates a high degree of physical fitness. A high resting heart rate is a sign of an increased risk of cardiac disease. The more the heart beats at rest, the more it works, which is not good for heart health.

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Heart rate recovery (HRR) refers to the rate at which the heart returns to its resting rate after a period of exercise. A good heart rate recovery is when the heart rate drops at least 18 beats within the first minute after stopping exercise.

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A stress test tells us how the heart functions during physical activity. Exercise makes the heart pump harder and faster.

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Other tests, such as cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as certain markers of inflammation, help us see whether heart health is improving over time.

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How to improve cardiovascular fitness

To improve cardiovascular fitness, it is essential to engage in aerobic exercises such as walking, running, cycling, or swimming. We must engage in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity and 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week.

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Start slowly with low-intensity workouts, gradually working up to high-intensity exercises.

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Doing high-intensity interval training HIIT two to three times a week has benefits.

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Warming up, cooling down, and gradually increasing the intensity and duration of the workout are beneficial.

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Conclusion

Plaque (comprised of fat, cholesterol, and other substances in the blood) builds up on the walls of arteries, and is called atherosclerosis, which causes coronary artery disease. It weakens the heart and causes serious problems like heart attack, stroke, and arrhythmia. The presence of risk factors and hereditary factors makes it important for us to assess our lifestyle. Our diet, exercise, and habits play an important role. The most effective way to improve cardiovascular fitness is through regular physical activity.