Q: I am a middle-aged, slightly overweight female who would like to lose about 10 pounds. I have never been an avid exerciser, but I would like to start exercising. I have heard that walking is a good aerobic exercise. Should I start with that? Are there other aerobic activities I could do? - R.F., Little Rock, AR

A: I am pleased that you have made the decision to start exercising. A study of 121,000 female nurses published in the New England Journal of Medicine recently has shown that walking three hours every week can reduce the risk of heart disease by 30 percent. Additional reductions in heart disease were seen with increased walking hours per week. The study also found that women who combined vigorous exercise on some days with walking on alternate days had even greater risk reductions.

Be sure you have your physician's approval to begin an exercise program. Once you do, walking is a great way to begin since it is easy on the joints and takes no special skills or abilities. But there are a variety of other activities that also can build your aerobic fitness. Here are just a few of them:

* Swimming: Provides a great aerobic workout while putting no additional stress on the joints of the body. A particularly fun way to work out in the water is to join an aqua aerobics class. You'll gain aerobic conditioning, as well as muscle toning. In addition, classes are a great way to meet people.
* Hiking on scenic trails: Adds variety to basic walking, as well as an intensity change due to variations in the landscape.
* Stationary biking (either upright or recumbent) or cycling outdoors on trails: Great for your heart, not to mention your leg muscles.
* Treadmills and cross-trainers: Use the different programs and settings to achieve the results you want.
* Rowing machines: These can be a lot of fun and very challenging to the body.

As you can see, building aerobic fitness doesn't have to mean just walking. The key is to find as many different activities as possible to keep your exercise fun and challenging.

Source: fitlinxx.com