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The Female Body: An Owner's Manual: Aerobic Conditioning

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Aerobic Conditioning

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Aerobic exercise is an essential element of the total fitness picture. What fitness instructors call aerobic activity means 20 to 30 minutes of continuous exercise that significantly speeds up your heart rate and, because you''re breathing and exercising steadily, sends an increased level of oxygen racing around the delivery route in your circulatory system. This kind of activity works your heart and your lungs, and it burns up fat. Most experts recommend doing it at least three times a week.

When it comes to building muscles, however, aerobics is the tortoise to toning''s hare, says Canyon Ranch wellness education director Rebecca Gorrell. Aerobic activity doesn''t target the muscles as directly as toning does. So if you rely solely on aerobic exercise to tone your muscles, it''s a long haul. In their own slow fashion, though, various aerobic activities can help tone different parts of your body.

Where It Helps

This chart tells you which parts of your body are conditioned by various activities. Find the activity in the first column and the body parts that benefit from that activity in column 2. The third column lists other body parts that are conditioned, but to a lesser extent.

Activity	Conditions . . .	Also Conditions . . .
Ballroom dancing	Upper body (shoulders, arms, chest, back, waist, abdomen)	Lower body (hips, buttocks thighs, calves, ankles)
Biking	Hips, buttocks, thighs
Boxing/boxercise	Upper and lower body
Canoeing	Shoulders, back	Chest, abdomen, legs
Country line dancing	Lower body
Cross-country skiing	Entire body
Downhill skiing	Oblique muscles, buttocks, legs	Shoulders, arms, chest, back
Gardening	Shoulders, lower back, buttocks	Abdominals
Golfing	Lower body (if you don''t use a golf cart)	Shoulders, arms, waist
Hiking	Midsection, lower body (hips, buttocks, thighs)
Horseback riding	Back, lower abdominals, lower body
Jumping rope	Wrists, lower body, calves, feet	Back, abdominals
Karate	Arms, hips, thighs, calves
Race-walking	Lower body, oblique muscles
Rowing (on machine)	Entire body, especially arms, back, buttocks and legs
Running	Midsection, lower body
Scrubbing and polishing	Shoulders, chest, back
Sculling	Entire body
Skating	Lower body, especially the hips
Slide (a plastic or rubber runner mat fitted with a hard plastic bumper at each end)	Hips, inner and outer thighs
Stair climbing/bench stepping	Lower body, especially the thighs
Swimming	Entire body
Tennis, squash	Playing arm, lower body
Vacuuming	Shoulders, arms, lower body
Volleyball	Entire body, especially the legs and oblique muscles
Walking	Lower body	Lower abdominals

See also Muscular System

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