Exercise is an effective treatment for HD. Exercise restores the decreased brain blood flow caused by HD. Exercise directly replaces a critical protein taken by untreated HD. Exercise promotes the growth and connection of new brain cells. These are all facts based on scientific studies.

All that Dr. Cooper teaches us about exercise applies to HD. His 'point system' is based on original research and the work of Scandinavian researchers. Dr. Cooper developed programs for the conditioning of millions of US soldiers, sailors and marines.

Walking four miles in less than hour just 4 times a week will give you most of the benefits of exercise. From Dr. Cooper you can learn a simple way to measure your aerobic fitness and many options to take you to good fitness and beyond. Check your public library or Amazon for his books. --Jerry

Posted to HDLighthouse: 21-Sep-2002 14:53 GMT HDL Update: Aerobics For HD

"None of this is speculation. The anatomic and biochemical characteristic of the training effect have been documented in the laboratory many times.", Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H. President and Founder, The Cooper Aerobics Center.

DEFINING AEROBICS

Aerobics offers you an ample choice of different forms of exercise, including many popular sports. They have one thing in common: by making you work hard, they demand plenty of oxygen. That’s the basic idea. That's what makes them aerobic.

The main objective of an aerobic exercise program is to increase the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can process within a given time. This is called your aerobic capacity. It is dependent upon an ability to:

1. rapidly breathe large amounts of air,
2. forcefully deliver large volumes of blood and
3. effectively deliver oxygen to all parts of the body.

TRAINING EFFECT

Collectively, the changes induced by exercise in the various systems and organs of the body are called the training effect. Unless the exercise is of sufficient intensity and duration, it will not produce a training effect and cannot be classified as an aerobic exercise. However, this distinction between aerobic and non-aerobic exercises is a laboratory determination, too technical for routine use. Therefore, the point system utilized in the aerobics conditioning program was developed to make this distinction for you. If the program is followed exactly and the required point goals are reached, an adequate training effect is assured. Specifically, aerobic exercise produces a training effect and increases the capacity to utilize oxygen in several ways:

1. It strengthens the muscles of respiration and tends to reduce the resistance to air flow, ultimately facilitating the rapid flow of air in and out of the lungs.
2. It improves the strength and pumping efficiency of the heart, enabling more blood to be pumped with each stroke. This improves the ability to more rapidly transport life-sustaining oxygen from the lungs to the heart and ultimately to all parts of the body.
3. It tones up muscles throughout the body, improving the general circulation, at times lowering blood presure and reducing the work on the heart.
4. It causes an increase in the total amount of blood circulating though the body and increases the number of red blood cells and the amount of hemoglobin, making the blood a more efficient oxygen carrier.

None of this is speculation. The anatomic and biochemical characteristic of the training effect have been documented in the laboratory many times. And throughout this reference will be made to many of these studies which have shown the health-building action of the training effect, as it concerns the heart.

Source:From 'The New Aerobics' by K. H. Cooper' 1970

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