Cardiovascular fitness is one of the most important elements in overall fitness, but in many clubs, heart-healthy workouts get short shrift. Here’s what you should know to keep your finger on the pulse.
1) Nearly 80% of all Americans over age 30 have poor cardiovascular fitness.
Cardiovascular disease is the number-one killer of Americans, accounting for 36% of all deaths-which is why it’s so scary that so few Americans have good cardiovascular health.
Poor cardiovascular fitness is associated with increased risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression, as well as risk for stroke and early death. Good cardiovascular fitness, on the other hand, comes with a host of benefits that extend well beyond the gym: increased blood oxygen levels, decreased resting heart rate, increased total blood volume and increased lung capacity.
2) Running on a treadmill is not the only solution.
Many members make the mistake of assuming that the only exercise that improves heart health is running, but that’s not true. While running and speed walking are good cardiovascular exercise, they’re far from the only forms. Elliptical machines, ski machines, swimming, jumping rope and classes like spinning, dancing or step aerobics all offer terrific aerobic workouts.
One of the most important jobs a health club can do is to teach members what kinds of exercise will give them the results they want. Most people who join health clubs don’t have degrees in exercise science and aren’t necessarily knowledgeable about what exercises are best for them. If you routinely give each new member a personalized welcome tour of your club, that’s a perfect opportunity to educate them about what classes and equipment boost cardiovascular fitness. Or think about color-coding your club map with information about which machines and classes promote different kinds of fitness.
You may also consider providing simple handouts of information on cardiovascular fitness (and other health topics) that your members can pick up at the front desk or in the locker room.
3) Good cardio takes commitment.
The good news: A good cardiovascular workout isn’t tough to achieve. The catch: Quick bursts and occasional efforts aren’t going to cut it. To boost cardiovascular health, your members need to commit at least three 30-minute workouts per week.
The reason for this is pretty simple. Cardiovascular exercise requires sustained muscle activity, so shorter bursts of exercise are less effective for building heart strength. And if you’re only doing these exercises occasionally, you don’t build endurance. Members who expect to grow their cardiovascular fitness from one aerobics class are going to be pretty disappointed with the results, so be sure your staff knows how to communicate realistic expectations to your members.
Obviously for some members, 30 minutes of sustained exercise is a goal and not a starting point. You should never push any member toward an exercise intensity or duration that isn’t right for them-and even the shortest period of activity is a positive step toward good cardiovascular health. But be sure your members understand the cardio exercise goal toward which they are working.
4) Members can actually track their own success.
One of the biggest advantages of cardiovascular exercise is that your success can be tracked. Teach your members how to evaluate their cardiovascular workouts. Not only does this show you cardio success, it also helps you calculate how many calories you’re burning, a big plus for many members.
Here’s how it works: About halfway through a workout, take your pulse for about 6 seconds. Add a 0 to that number to determine your heart rate per minute. Then, subtract your age from 220. (If you’re 30 years old, your number would be 190.) Estimate about 70% of that number (for the 30-year-old, it would be about 130. If your heart rate is around that number, you’re right on track. If it’s higher, you should slow things down a little. And if it’s lower, you can pick up the pace.
An even easier way to test for exercise effectiveness-no math required!-is to do the sentence test. If it’s too hard to get the words out, you’re working too hard. But if you don’t pant once, you can up your intensity.
5) You need to be prepared for the worst.
Cardiovascular exercise has big benefits-especially for people who may have cardiovascular-related health issues-but the potential strain it can put on a person’s heart can raise the risk of cardiac arrest in some instances. Your club needs to be prepared for this possibility.
A 1998 study by the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine found that a large percentage of health clubs required no screenings to assess cardiac fitness and many had no emergency procedures in place. In cases of cardiac trauma where timing is everything, these kinds of safeguards could mean the difference between life and death. And as more and more of America’s seniors maintain active lifestyles well past middle age, the likelihood of your club having members with cardiac conditions is just going to keep growing.
Be sure that all your members fill out a complete medical history when they join your club. If a member’s history raises a red flag, ask him to visit his doctor for an exercise prescription. (You’ll want to make sure you’re familiar with federal and state medical privacy guidelines.) And consider doing basic fitness screenings for new members-Colonial Fitness in Sinking Springs, Colo., tests all new members for strength and cardiovascular fitness, blood pressure and body fat.
You may also want to require CPR certification for members of your staff, as the Curves franchise does. And consider installing automated external defibrillators (or AEDs), which are recommended in cardiac emergency cases.
