Domyos RTC 690, Operating Instructions Manual

15

Cardio training is aerobic exercise (muscle development using oxygen); it enables you to improve your cardiovascular capacity. 

More specifically, you improve the tone of your heart muscle and blood vessels.

Cardiovascular training takes oxygen from the air you breathe into your muscles.

The heart pumps this oxygen throughout the entire body, and especially to the muscles that are doing the work.

Taking  your  pulse  regularly  while  exercising  is  essential  for  controlling 

your training.

If you don’t have an electronic measuring instrument, this is how you do 

it :

To take your pulse, place 2 fingers over :

your neck, beneath the ear, or inside the wrist next to the thumb

Don’t press too hard :

Pressing too hard lessens the blood flow and can slow down the heart 

rhythm.

After counting the beats for 30 seconds, multiply by 2 to get the number 

of beats per minute.

Example :

A count of 75 beats gives 150 beats/minute

C O N T R O l   Y O U R   P U l S E   R AT E

C A R D I O - T R A I N I N G

A – Warm-up phase: progressive effort

The  warm-up  is  the  preparatory  phase  for  exercise  and  gets  your  body 

COMPLETELY READY to start working out. 

It is a way to PREVENT INJURIES TO TENDONS AND MUSCLES. 

It involves two stages: 

WAKING UP THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM, AND OVERALL WARM-UP.
1)  You wake up your muscles with a SERIES OF SPECIFIC STRETCHES that 

PREPARE YOU FOR EXERCISE: every muscle group is used, and the joints 

are stimulated.

2)  The  overall  warm-up  makes  it  possible  to  put  the  cardio-vascular  and 

respiratory  system  into  action  gradually,  for  a  better  blood  supply  to 

the muscles and better preparation for the exercise. It should be long 

enough: 10 minutes for a recreational sport, and 20 minutes for a com-

petitive sport. Note that you should warm up for longer: in the morning 

and if you are over 55.

B – Training

The workout is the main phase of your physical activity. 

By working out on a REGULAR basis, you can improve your physical fitness.

• Anaerobic work for improving endurance.

• Aerobic work for improving cardio-pulmonary strength.

C – Warming down

This corresponds to low-level activity; it is the gradual “resting” phase. WAR-

MING DOWN returns your cardiovascular, respiratory and circulatory sys-

tems and your muscles to normal functioning (thereby preventing undesirable 

side effects such as the build-up of lactic acid, which is one of the major causes 

of muscle pain namely, cramps and stiffness).

d - Stretching

You should stretch after warming down. Stretching after exercise: Minimises 

MUSCULAR STIFFNESS caused by the build-up of.

PHASES OF PHYSICAl ACTIvITY

•  Training at 80 to 90% and over of maximum heart rate: Anaerobic and red zones reserved for competitive, specialist 

athletes.

• Training at 70 to 80% of maximum heart rate: Endurance training.
• Training at 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate: Getting fit/Burning off fat.
• Training at 50 to 60% of maximum heart rate: Staying in shape/Warm-up.

Male

Female

Beats per minute

Age

Beats per minute

Age

If your age differs from those given in the table, you can use the following formulae to calculate your maximum heart rate which corresponds to 100%.

For men: 

220 - age

For women: 

227 - age

CARdIOvASCUlAR TRAINING: EXERCISE ZONE

E N G L I S H