"SEC-s20w1: Fitness Training - Cardio

Have you ever felt your heart beat so fast after running some meters or in an interhouse sport? After running, you hold your chest and do exhalation because your heart is beating and pumping blood so fast. If this has happened to you before, don't worry.

It's not a health detriment or an attack of the heart. It's an exercise you carry out to boost your cardiovascular system, which also helps burn calories and keep you energised for day-to-day activities. Cardio fitness, as explained, is a form of exercise related to the heart biologically.

Exercises related to cardio or cardiac are meant to increase your heart efficiency and also fuel your body with oxygen. The heart is an engine that gives life to the body. If it stops pumping, you're a dead man. So you need to improve the way it pumps blood by doing exercises relative to it to enhance its efficiency. For the purpose of this fitness training course, I'll give answers to the following questions:.

These measurements are quite accurate, as that's what I measured yesterday, to be honest. With regards to weight, I'm not plump, fat, or lean but have a normal body size, which hasn't really affected my weight, making it 60 kg. This means I'm 10 kg different from a bag of cement in Nigeria, which weighs 50 kg.

Anyone can carry me without much stress. Height-related, I'm not short or very tall. I'm an average man with an average height of 5.8 feet, close to that of a grave depth. I'm still a growing child, and exercise like jumping jacks has helped improve my height.

For my calculations;

BMI = weight/(height (cm))^2
My weight = 60 Kg
My height is 5.8 feet which is 1.76m or 174cm

BMI = 60 / (1.763m)²
BMI = 60/ (3.526 m)
BMI = 17.01 π 17

I don't suffer from any physical or internal illness of any kind. My vision, walking, and other observable bodily features are in good condition; that's why I can do whatever exercise there may be. The only challenge I have is that of breathing heavily, and my heart pumps unusually when I run a little meter.

This is as a result of not keeping fit on a daily or weekly basis and improving my cardiac activities. With this training, I'll start taking it personally to improve my heartbeat and breathing rate.

I wasn't this fitness type, as I usually think it's a waste of time and that fitness is only for those who burn fat. In fact, discouragements made me not do fitness openly until @ngoenyi organised a fitness program where anyone can attain a desired result based on what he or she wants to achieve. I don't have fat to burn but want to be strong, develop packs or abs, and also develop endurance and strength when carrying out strenuous work.

	My fitness routine

With this opportunity she brought forth this year, I decided to be exercising 4 days a week, which includes Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdays. These are the days she fixed for the general workout or exercise.

Though I've not been consistent every day because of school and other household activities, I try my best to be available at least twice a week. We usually exercise our bodies from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., which is roughly 2 hours. For a particular program, minutes are allocated to ensure a thorough workout.

Let's assume this weightlifting program. I usually function for 3 minutes maximum because of the weight of the dumbbells. Though I'm still trying to extend the minutes with Time, this is the limit I can go.

For the swimming, we usually organise aerobics at the end of the month where inhalation and exhalation are taken personal and we are taught how to breathe underwater. These are cardiac activities that help improve the efficiency of the heart.

	Swimming

Morning hours are usually a comfortable time for me to exercise my body. There's this energy and air that comes in the morning that can help you achieve a lot before the sun rises. If you wake up as early as 6:30 am and do meditation or start jogging, I bet you'll do it every day because the rising air that morning is good enough for one's health and helps in mindset development if meditation is taken into consideration.

As a team, we usually meet for training in the morning from 6:30Am - 9Am depending on how long you can train or exercise. So this time suits me very well even though I've been having busy schedules that morning or inability to wake up early.

As our fitness coach demonstrated in the videos, exercises like jumping jacks, climbing stairs, warmups, stretches, and mountain climbing were inclusive, and these are what I did this week to improve my heart efficiency and functionality.

I did 5 programs and recorded two programs out of the programs she mentioned for us. The first is mountain climbing. This has been one of the most difficult programs done since I started fitness with the @ngoenyi team. It is done by planking on a step board, tilting your back below your arms, and then taking your hips forward and backwards as if you were running. This connects with your heart as there's a curve when your hips come forward to meet your abdomen.

It increases one heartbeat, and endurance is really needed in this particular program. It also helps in burning fat, as your tummy would be tucked in. I did it 20 times, as shown in the video. Wasn't that easy though, but I had to endure the pains from planking and then suspending your legs in a particular position.

The next one is jumping jacks. This is also an essential cardio exercise where you get to jump up with your hands joint as if you're clapping and your legs the same. So you'll be jumping up, clapping both your hands and legs. This program increases one's heartbeat and needs endurance. I did it 20 times for a start to avoid getting my head spinned.

Exercise at least 3 days in a week and report your activities according to the days.

This week, I exercised just two days, that is, on Monday and Friday. These are the activities done these days.

Monday	I did pushups at home though I didn't have anyone to capture me while doing them and also did an endurance test when lifting a plantain that fell to the ground due to climate change. It was then I knew Plantain sucker has weight more than I do.
Friday	I did some cardio exercises like jumping jacks and aerobics with my fitness team. I also did stretches, which help improve flexibility and agility. They were quite difficult and required endurance, but I was able to complete my program given by my instructor, @ngoenyi.

What do you plan to achieve through this training plan?

I plan to achieve a lot through this training plan, of which one is motivation. You can't get fit if you're not motivated to do a couple of exercises. I really need motivation at times to do exercise at home when I'm indisposed to go to the fitness center. So I think this training will boost my motivation to take fitness personal with the aim of achieving a desired result.

I also want to achieve stability and endurance with the aid of this program. Everything we do in life requires strength and endurance, and this can only be improved if you do exercises. You'll be able to eat well, sleep well, and reason well. These are what I see as achievable in the course of this program.

I also want to achieve abs and butt, which I think grow when there's consistent practice on programs that aid it.

In conclusion, there's one thing my fitness coach will always tell me: Go hard or you go home. We may feel reluctant doing exercises and think it won't have any effect on us. Some do it but give up along the line.Your body needs regular exercise, even if your doctor says so, as it helps prevent some lifetime problems like stroke, difficulty breathing, and heart problems.

Prevention is better than cure, and the best way to prevent problems of fatigue, stroke, mental disability, cardiac attack, difficulty breathing, and the likes is to be consistent on exercises and eat good food coupled with foods. Then you can have a healthy life. I invite @basil20, @nsijoro and @saintkelvin17