Fitness

There a zillion websites out there that present advice and theories about fitness, exercise, cardio health, etc. but I have found the Cardiac Exercise Research Group website to be particularly interesting and recommend you take some time and dig into it. Here's a summary of who they are and what they do...

"The Cardiac Exercise Research Group was established in January 2008 with funding from the Norwegian Research Council (Outstanding Young Investigators Program), the Norwegian Council on Cardiovascular Disease, St. Olav's Hospital and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). From 2011, the group was given a grant to become the K.G. Jebsen Center for Exercise in Medicine for the next four years, which releases additional funding from NTNU and the Central Norway Regional Health Authority. The group is headed by professor Ulrik Wisløff and includes around 50 employees, among others post docs, PhD students, engineers and administrative personnel."

"Our research focuses on identifying the key cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical exercise on the heart, arteries and skeletal muscle in the context of disease prevention and management through experimental, clinical and epidemiological studies. Identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with aerobic fitness is important, because it may help us develop new and better methods to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease."

Start here and work your way through the Table of Contents on the upper left part of the page.

You will find lots of interesting information including a fitness (VO2max) calculator, an excellent discussion of HRmax along with a heart rate calculator. Also check out exercise advice which includes a description of their signature 4x4 interval training program, an excellent FAQ section and an interesting seven week fitness program.