3 minute read
How Much Exercise Do We Really Need Each Week?
By: Susan Gazerro
For many, exercise might not be on top of your to-do list, but the World Health Organization (WHO), says it should be. According to the WHO, 1 in 4 adults and 4 out of 5 adolescents don’t get enough cardio exercise. To many, exercise is just not a priority, but a lack of physical activity can increase the odds of an early death by 20 to 30%. Research has proven, exercise can be a powerful tool for prevention, proven to help protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and anxiety. Plus it can improve thinking, learning, and judgment, and can even help you get a better night’s sleep. Add to all these benefits, you just feel better when you exercise.
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I have mentioned, in many articles, that chemicals are released from your brain when your body is in exercise mode. Those chemicals change and improve your mood. I also always say that when you feel good physically, you feel great mentally. When you feel good, everything in life is so much easier to deal with, and your stress level decreases. I repeat, exercise is a powerful tool for you, both physically and mentally.
If you have not exercised in some time, speak to your doctor if you have medical conditions or concerns. Make sure your activity and its intensity are appropriate for your age and fitness level.
Exercise should consist of both some type of cardio and some type of strength training. On average, and this varies depending on age, height, and weight, each week, adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening activity. You may think that 150 minutes sounds like a lot, but it’s not. It’s only two and half hours, and if you divide that by seven days, it’s not very much at all. This is the basic guideline for adults, but again, it varies per person.
Some examples of moderate-intensity activity are walking, jogging, running, swimming, riding a bike, pushing a lawn mower, hiking, etc. Moderate or low exercise would be walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Vigorous activity would be a mix of jogging and running for an hour and 15 minutes a day, five days a week. Engaging in martial arts, walking, or running the stairs, can provide vigorous activity, basically, anything that requires intense effort. You can also do these in short bursts, as long as you are putting forth 100% effort. Make it intense and take short breaks. If you “Google” HIIT workouts, you can get some good ideas for a vigorous workout. You can also do a mix of moderate and vigorous, two out of the five days.
Muscle strengthening exercises or activities can be done by using light weights, resistance bands, medicine balls, or your own body weight. You should be working arms, back, shoulders, chest, and legs. You should be doing these types of strengthening exercises, two days a week. When someone new takes my class and asks me to train them, I explain the difference between a cardio workout and a muscle strengthening workout.
Cardio burns fat for the period you are doing the activity. Whether you are walking, running, swimming, taking a fitness class etc., you are burning fat for the amount of time you are doing the activity. This is great because cardio is the only way to work the heart muscle. Muscle strengthening activities continue to burn fat for an average of up to two days after you’ve completed the workout. This is because you are activating the muscles and they continue to burn the fat. This, again, depends on age, height, and weight.
You can also do a low impact workout doing core exercises. Having a strong core has so many benefits. Again, when someone new takes my class or asks me to train them, I ask them what body part they are looking to make the strongest. I get everything from biceps to quads, hamstrings, etc. My response is, it should be “your mind.” When you have a strong mind, you are more apt to stay focused and dedicated. The second body part is the core. When you have a strong core, all other muscle groups are easier to work on. Start with basic sit ups. Add a weight. Start with weight at your chest, as you do a full sit up, lift the weight to the ceiling. Bring it back to the chest and lie back down. Put hands flat on the side of your body or lean back on forearms, alternate kicks in the air, then bring both legs up together. All of these should be done at least 15x, for two sets.
