All Things Cardio
Training our cardiovascular system is important for both dancers and healthy individuals. Our cardiovascular system is the system that uses our heart, and blood vessels (veins and arteries) to pump our blood throughout our body. Our blood carries nutrients, oxygen, waste byproducts, as well as provides transportation for other cells and chemical messengers involved in homeostasis.
Our cardiovascular system needs both physical training and a healthy diet low in trans fats, high in insoluble fibres. For more information on cardiovascular health and diet, consult your local dietician. For exercise, if you are not sure where to start, consult your family doctor, your Chiropractor, a nurse, a physical therapist, or a personal trainer.
If we look at exercise guidelines in general, the recommendation from the Canadian 24 Hour Movement Guidelines for children ages 5 to 11 is to get one hour of daily vigorous-intensity physical activity, aiming for 3 times per week to be on the vigorous end of the spectrum. For ages 12 to 17 year olds, they should be aiming for the same, but also be getting activity to build strong muscles and bones 3 times per week.
For adults under the age of 65, it is recommended to get 2.5 hours of physical activity per week, with each exercise session lasting at least 10 minutes. They also recommend adding exercises to specifically target muscles and bones 2 times per week. For adults over the age of 64, they recommend the same, but advise to start slow and listens to your body.
Cardiovascular training should be individually based. For optimal cardiovascular training, you want your heart rate to be in an optimal range, not too easy but not too hard. One of the easiest ways to ensure you are training in the right range is to use a device like an app or a watch to check your pulse rate. If you don’t have access, I would consider vigorous training where you can only say a few words before you need to take a breath while performing the activity.
Some examples of cardio training for kids includes swimming, running, playing basketball, biking, and even cross-country skiing. If you are looking for more strength training options for children, consider climbing activities or even playing on playground equipment.
Some other benefits from implementing different cardiovascular training into your children’s lives can include increased socialization, decreased stress, increased concentration and academic performance, improved self-esteem, posture, balance, and of course healthy growth and development.
If you are having trouble finding the time to put in some cardio into your day, try encouraging your children to walk or bike to school. Having children assist on daily chores like raking, shovelling, picking up groceries also helps children learn life skills while remaining active. Music can also help make an activity seem more fun, especially if the entire family gets involved. By joining a team, or a regular class, or simply by improving small habits leading to more activity can teach children that physical health is a lifelong journey.
If we look at where to put cardio into our dance class, I would always put this at the beginning of class to use this as a tissue warm-up. By increasing our heart rate as we slowly engage our muscles in a cardio warm-up, we give our muscles and connective tissue time to slowly warm up, increasing extensibility. This allows us to stretch and increase the range of our activities safely, preventing sprains and strains.
Whether you are a parent or a dance educator, teaching children the importance of cardiovascular exercise is fundamental. When children understand why they are doing something, and how it helps, they are much more likely to continue this habit into adulthood. Lead by example, and take care of your heart!
