Fitness is a combination of body composition, muscular performance, and cardiovascular fitness with the later being one of the most important components.

Improving cardiovascular increases your supply of oxygen and energy to your body. It also decreases your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and othe life threatening diseases. Cardiovascular fitness can lead to prolonged endurance and will help you perform to your best abilities.

When a heart is well conditioned, it is like any other muscle - it becomes stronger and more efficient. A normal heart beats at approximately 70 beats per minute at rest, but a conditioned heart can beat as few as 40 beats per minute. As you can see a healthy heart has to work half as much to get the same amount of oxygen to your body.

Aerobic (means with oxygen) exercise which involves steady constant motion of the muscles increases the body's demand for oxygen. In this manner aerobic exercise works your heart muscle making it bigger and stronger. Examples of aerobic exercises are walking, running, swimming, and cycling. Whie you want the exercise to be intensive you don't want to overdo it. The best way to monitor the amount of work you are doing is to measure your heart beat. A target heart range (THR) for you is 60-75% of 220 minus your age. When exercising take your heart beat frequently and increase your exercise to reach your target heart range, but if you start to exceed it, slow down.

At the beginning aim for the low end of your target heart range and as you become more fit, gradually work into the higher range. Exercising for 20-30 minutes three times a week will help you to become more fit.