I would like to touch on the importance of cardio-respiratory conditioning to overall health and fitness.

Building cardio endurance is one the most fundamental aspects to improving your health and fitness and is also a very good indicator of your overall health. Maintaining your cardio is needed so you can meet the daily demands of a normal lifestyle.

Many of us take it for granted that we can climb stairs, run, ride a bike and, for the most part, find ourselves slightly out of breath. For others, they know all too well that physical exercise can be a real challenge due to a lack of cardio-respiratory conditioning and endurance.

So let's break down cardio-respiratory exercise. Cardio is any exercise that places a stress on the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system. These systems work together to provide the tissue in your body with oxygen, nutrients and a way for waste byproducts to be removed. As you build and improve your cardio fitness, your body becomes much more efficient at supplying oxygen, nutrients and other key components to your body.

For many of us, the No. 1 reason for starting a cardio exercise program is to lose weight and drop fat from our bodies. This can include walking, running, biking or even Zumba. Since we all have different needs and different levels of fitness, it is important to define what our true goals are. Depending on these goals, the state of your current health, age, chronic illness and things like do you smoke will make a difference on where and how you get started.

Most people fail to recognize that there are different cardio-respiratory requirements needed to meet the varied goals we may have. For example, if someone is looking to run a half marathon versus someone looking to lose weight, the level method of physical effort for one will be significantly different than the other.

The basic key points to consider are frequency or how often you should exercise, then coupled to the intensity of your activities, which then are tied to how much time you need to spend doing each workout or activity.

Here are a few examples:

1. If you are an older person living a somewhat sedentary lifestyle, it would be a good starting point to walk an easy to moderate pace 3 to 4 times a week for 20 minutes, then increasing pace and time spent walking each week until you feel you can increase your pace and distance.

2. If you're someone who is healthy but desire to lose weight, you will want to walk a somewhat moderate to vigorous pace 5 to 6 times a week setting a target heart rate as a guide. Increase pace and intensity to your target heart rate as your endurance increases and you start to hit your weight goals.

3. If you're a fitness person new to distance running you will want to run an easy pace, 3 to 4 times a week minimum setting a target heart rate and adding distance each week until you reach the goals you have set in the number of miles you want to do in a single run. Frequency becomes a key point for distance runners to see improved endurance.

As you can see from above, the formula is pretty simple. Frequency + intensity + time = improved cardio endurance and fitness.

One area that you should pay close attention to is measuring your heart rate during cardio exercise.

Heart rate monitoring will help you stay within the appropriate intensity or target heart rate for your specific level of fitness. A great example of how to measure your heart rate when you exercising is to take your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by six. Keep your target heart rate lower as you start out then bring it up gradually as your fitness improves. There are a number of good reference guides for what your target heart rate should be based on age and health on the web, so check one of them out before starting. You can also make it really easy and buy a heart-rate monitor as they are easy to use and they do not require you to stop during exercise to measure your heart rate.

Here is one last aspect of cardio exercise to consider as you prepare to start an effective program to improve your cardio endurance and health. It is important to get checked out by your doctor. Then start slow, building up as you go with more frequency and intensity. This will help you avoid injury and make the experience more enjoyable.

It is important to remember not all cardio exercise needs to be high impact; there are many forms of cardio that puts little to no stress on the body. It should be noted that not everyone can or should do cardio, so listen to your doctor. Keep your exercise regimen safe and sane, your body will tell you when you are pushing too hard. Remember: all things in moderation, get plenty of rest, allow time to heal when injured and mix it up when planning your workouts.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.