Most Aerobically Demanding Sport Choices
For those of you who don’t know CV (cardio vascular) fitness refers to the ability of the heart and lungs to provide the body with enough nutrients (mainly oxygen) for it to function during activity and remove waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid also. The more efficient and well trained the CV system is, the greater the intensity or duration of exercise can be. Some sports such as weight lifting don’t develop the CV system very well as very little oxygen is required by the muscles. But there are sports that work the CV system more than others. Below we look at three of the best sports for developing CV fitness.
Skiing. The variety of this sport known as cross-country skiing is actually the most demanding off all sports on the CV system. The is partly due to the cold air reducing the amount of oxygen that can be absorbed by the lungs (forcing them to be even more efficient), but also races take place over many miles and difficult terrain. On top of this, there isn’t a muscle in the body that is not required during the action of cross country skiing, meaning that the CV system needs to work overtime to provide them all with fuel. So if you’re looking to build your CV system, switch your snowboards for skis next time you’re on the slopes.
Cycling. Racing bikes at high level puts vast amounts of pressure of the heart and lungs due to the large muscle groups that are required to work. The 7 time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong is testament to that, having one of the highest VO2 max scores of any athlete. This refers to the amount of 02 that the body can take in and the muscles can use in 1 minute. Based on that evidence, next time you’re clearing out your sports equipment and come across you bike, think twice before getting rid of it.
Kayaking. Despite the fact a kayaker uses their lower body very little in this sport compared to most aerobically demanding disciplines, his or her CV system still gets a pounding. This is due to the fact that large amounts of energy are required by the upper body for quite long periods of time, which not only means high oxygen demand, but also lots of bi-products that need removing.
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