Watching athletes at their peak is thrilling, but maximizing your own athletic potential is not. Getting healthy is hard and painful – or at least, that's what we think.
But that's not necessarily the case. In fact, research shows that people who start to move more than usual see surprisingly quick improvements, no matter what kind of exercise they choose. And even better, it turns out there are ways to speed up your fitness journey.
The key to improving your fitness is essentially simple: you need to exceed your “habitual load.” This means doing more activity than you're used to. This puts stress on your body and forces it to adapt.
When a beginner begins aerobic exercise, “one of the first things that happens is that blood volume increases,” he says. Abi Lane A University of Michigan study found that within 24 hours of exercise, this level increased to 12 percent Hydration increases your plasma volume, which in turn increases the amount of oxygen available to your muscles. Blood volume typically peaks after two weeks of training. Athletes are 15-20% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than sedentary people.
The energy-producing structures inside our cells, called mitochondria, become more numerous and more efficient around this…
Source: www.newscientist.com
