The first step to improve heart and lung function is to lose weight?

At the beginning of this class, we will enter the exercise module, which is to help you solve a core question: how can exercise effectively improve energy? I'm going to share some very practical tips that will help you become an energy management expert and make your exercise more effective.

In my nearly 10 years as a fitness coach, I have contacted many elite people and coached many professional athletes. They all have a common feature, that is, their energy is good enough to support busy work or high-intensity training every day.

What I've found interesting is that most of us are less busy, have more free time to exercise and rest, but have less energy than these busy people. Why is that?

One important reason is that elite people pay special attention to improving cardiopulmonary function through exercise. The goal is very clear, so although the exercise time is limited, the effect of improving energy is very good.

So you see a lot of entrepreneurs who are the same size as us, but full of energy. Many fitness friends from their body, muscle, linear, and so on, all feel that they are not practiced, in fact, most entrepreneurs are in motion, just because the purpose of fitness, by way of these elites often strength is not big, need not the time, the core purpose is to let his work have enough energy to deal with all sorts of challenges. Their method is also very suitable for ordinary working people.

So what can we do to become as energetic as the elite?

Earlier we mentioned a formula for energy:

Energy = (State of physical fitness - Fatigue) * State of mind

Among them, health and physical fitness is a concept proposed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) : It refers to the physical ability of a person to have enough energy each day to complete work and study tasks without fatigue, to enjoy leisure activities, and to cope with unexpected situations.

Healthy PHYSICAL FITNESS INCLUDES FIVE important indicators: CARDIopULmonary function, body composition (body fat ratio), flexibility, muscle endurance, and muscle strength.

The importance of these five indicators is actually different.

One of the most important is cardiopulmonary function. The heart and the muscle are like the engine and the parts. If the engine, the heart, is faulty, no good muscle part will work.

Most people do not know this, so they will improve muscle mass and muscle strength as the purpose of exercise, especially most fitness trainers will say: build muscle, the body will be healthy, want to get sick less, increase metabolism, all depend on muscle.

Remember, muscle mass is not a measure of your energy level. Intense training can affect your energy and make you sick.

I have a friend who is starting a business and keeps a good exercise habit. Since last year, hoping to improve his energy state, he has ramped up his exercise intensity, going to the gym five days a week. Six months later, he was in better shape than before, but he felt more and more tired, especially on the second day after exercise. And he, who hardly ever got sick, was brought down by a cold and had to ask for leave during the busiest hours.

So before making an exercise plan, we must know our own body condition.

Two indicators can help you understand how your body is doing.

I selected two indicators from the aspects of subjective feelings and objective values:

One is the fatigue feeling times: this is from the subjective feeling. It's the number of times a day you feel low on energy and tired at work or school. We can write it down whenever we feel tired, or we can write it down together every night. These notes can help you focus on feelings you might otherwise overlook, and see if your energy levels are enough to sustain you on a daily basis.

An even simpler approach would be to buy a smart device that measures heart rate variability so you can get a clearer picture of fatigue. Typically, the device will tell you how strong your body is during the day and how long you're resting based on your heart rate. Here are three graphs of a device to analyze fatigue, you see if it is very convenient. And we're going to talk more about fatigue in the rest of the course.

The second is maximal oxygen uptake. This is a number that objectively reflects the physical condition. This may be the first time you've heard it, but what exactly is VO2 Max? As we all know, when people exercise, they need oxygen to enter the blood through the lungs to participate in energy metabolism. The more exercise, the more oxygen they need. But at some point, no matter how much you open your mouth, speed up your pace, or increase your intensity, you can't get more oxygen. At this point, the amount of oxygen used by the blood is the body's maximal oxygen uptake.

Why should we focus on VO2 Max?

Because this number measures the capacity of the cardiopulmonary system, it shows how well the cardiovascular system can transport oxygen to the body for metabolism. The higher the VO2 Max, the healthier and more efficient the heart. So, not only will increasing your VO2 Max control your blood pressure and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, it will also increase your mental clarity and energy levels.

Vo2 Max also represents a person's aerobic activity limit, in other words, the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can use to participate in the production of energy. The body's ability to use oxygen is important not only to guide athletes in scientific training, but also to determine certain chronic diseases.

So, VO2 Max is an important indicator for us to measure the effect of exercise.

Japan screened about 30,000 people in 1998 and found an inverse correlation between maximal oxygen uptake and the risk of developing the disease.

Abnormal rate of medical examination in men with different maximal oxygen uptake levels

The higher a person's VO2 Max, the fewer abnormal indicators of physical examination, but when men's VO2 Max was below 42, the abnormal indicators increased significantly. For a normal adult, a VO2 Max of 40 for a man and 36 for a woman would be considered a passing grade. People below the pass line are at varying levels of risk, and those in the 30s are even at risk of sudden death. I've met a lot of IT people at tech companies who work long hours and stay up late, and their VO2 Max tests are 29 or 30, which is a dangerous number. If you're chronically stressed, sleep-deprived, and your VO2 Max is below the pass line, you may be spending your last seconds working.

The original gym has a female manager, long-term desk, frequent overtime, lack of exercise, the state of the body is getting worse and worse. One year to catch a train home for the Spring Festival, she and her boyfriend went out late, finally two people carrying luggage ran for more than ten minutes, finally ran to the platform. Just as she was about to board the train, the manager's boyfriend noticed that she looked wrong and her lips were blue. At that time, they thought it would be OK to take a rest on the train, but soon after driving, the female manager had a heart attack and died without timely treatment.

We must know: people with weak cardiovascular ability generally do not have sudden danger at ordinary times, but once they encounter great pressure or exercise beyond their own strength, they may have an accident. Vo2 Max not only helps us measure the effectiveness of exercise, it's also an important indicator of our health.

How do you know your VO2 Max?

I recommend buying now professional sports watches can generally be detected. In addition to data on maximal oxygen uptake, these sports watches can also monitor other indicators, such as heart rate, which can reflect the overall state of cardiopulmonary function.

How to choose the brand of sports watch? In fact, most mainstream sports watches can be tested for VO2 Max. The selection criteria were based on whether the manufacturer used the data provided by FirstBeat. The company's data, which includes gender, age and exercise status, is far more accurate than other companies.

Ok, in this lesson, we have learned what is healthy physical fitness, and we have two new indicators to measure the effect of exercise. Next lesson, we will start with cardiopulmonary capacity, which is the most important physical quality, and give you a scientific and reasonable exercise plan, which can effectively improve your body status and increase your energy level.