Cardiovascular Exercise (Cardio): This type of exercise focuses on improving the health of the cardiovascular system, including the heart and lungs. Common examples include running, jogging, swimming, cycling, and aerobics. Cardiovascular exercise helps enhance endurance, burn calories, and improve circulation. Strength Training: This involves using resistance, such as weights or resistance bands, to build and strengthen muscles. Strength training is essential for maintaining bone density, improving metabolism, and enhancing overall physical strength. Flexibility Exercises: Stretching and flexibility exercises help improve the range of motion of joints and muscles. Activities like yoga and Pilates are excellent for flexibility, balance, and relaxation. Balance Training: These are designed to improve stability and prevent falls, especially in older adults. They often involve specific movements that challenge the body’s equilibrium. Functional Fitness: This type of exercise focuses on movements that mimic activities of daily living, such as squatting, lifting, and reaching. Functional fitness helps improve overall coordination and the ability to perform everyday tasks.
Though few would deny the importance of physical exercise or working out, many of us may be unaware of how frequently we should visit the gym or run on the treadmill at home.
It’s also beneficial to understand the importance of rest days and alternating the types of exercise we do each day, whether it’s cardio, weightlifting, or targeting different muscle groups with a variation of each workout. “Strength is not the only goal in working out for most people, and people’s priorities vary,” says Loren Fish-man, MD, a Columbia University professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Here’s how much exercise you should get, no matter how you do it.
How many days a week should I exercise?
The first step in determining how many days to plan to exercise is to determine how many minutes per week you should be engaging in physical fitness.
The American Physical Activity Guidelines, published by the U.S. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), adults should engage in at least 2 hours and 30 minutes to 5 hours of moderate-intensity fitness per week OR 1 hour and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity fitness per week for optimal health benefits. The recommendations go on to say that “adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers three options for meeting these recommendations:
Engage in a moderate aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, for 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week, AND work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms) twice a week.
Participate in a vigorous aerobic activity, such as jogging or running, for 75 minutes twice a week AND work out all major muscle groups twice a week.
2 or more days per week, engage in an equivalent mix of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity AND work for all major muscle groups.
Every day, children ages 6 to 17 should engage in at least 60 minutes of “moderate to vigorous” physical activity.
The overarching goal for both children and adults is to be as active as possible. “Be active as many days a week as you can – at least 3 days or more,” recommends Barbara Olendzki, associate professor of population and quantitative health sciences at UMass Chan Medical School. “Even short periods during the day can add up and have health benefits,” she said. This includes decisions such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away from your destination, and getting in small bursts of exercise whenever possible. “Sitting less is also a great idea,” she suggests.
What are the advantages of taking days off?
Experts advise people who choose the higher-level recommendation of getting closer to 5 hours of exercise per week, or those who spend a lot of that time lifting weights, to remember the importance of rest days. “Resting for a day between workouts allows the muscles to heal properly before stressing them again – this will maximise your ability to build muscle,” says Trevor Delaney, PT, DPT, a certified primary spine practitioner and physical therapy program director at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Moreover, “if you are new to exercise, giving your cardiovascular system rest is also crucial to avoid stressing the system too much,” says Delaney, even if all you are doing is cardio. It can also be avoided by scheduling rest days in advance. “This is something I am sure we are all familiar with whether starting a new exercise program or a new diet,” according to him. “You start off with the best of intentions and before you know it, you stop the program completely. Rest days can decrease the likelihood of this.”
One of the most appealing elements of the HHS and CDC physical activity recommendations is that they offer complete flexibility for different schedules, allowing for different workouts and It’s about being able to choose between exercises.
For example, when going to the gym, many people like to switch up the muscle groups they train on different days.
Split into two days, you can train upper body muscle groups such as the back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms on the first day, and lower body muscle groups such as the buttocks, hips, and legs on the second day.
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“The best way to alternate between different types of strength training is to create a system,” Fishman suggests.
There are also many options for aerobic exercise.
Walking, running, cycling, swimming, or team sports like basketball, volleyball, or pickleball are good ways to maintain moderate to vigorous physical fitness.
“A combination of Pilates, yoga, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can also be very beneficial,” says Delaney.
“In general, it’s important to combine different types of exercise to maximize
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