How much exercise do I need? Warm up-cool down Stretching-cooling down Frequency of Exercise Support tools

Aerobic exercise is the type that helps your heart and blood circulation the most.

Aerobic activity is mostly repetitive and rhythmic, and exercises large muscle groups, such as those in your legs, shoulders and arms. The following actvities are all good examples: Cycling, Brisk walking, Swimming, Dancing, Tennis, Jogging, Soccer.

• It can help to get other people involved
• Ask your family and friends, or even a work colleague to join you or support you
• It can be a lot more enjoyable when other people are with you.

You don’t have to join the gym to become more active, you can begin by being more active in your day to day life, try some of these:

• Walk more each day, and don’t use the car for short journeys
• Take the stairs instead of a lift or escalator
• Get off the bus one stop earlier
• Cycle or walk to work
• Take the dog out on longer walks
• Take a walk during your lunch break
• Think about activities you used to enjoy, and see if you can take part in them again
• The main thing is to enjoy being active
• If it feels like a punishment, then you’re less likely to keep it up
• Do something you like, have fun and get healthier at the same time

How much exercise do I need?

• If you are beginning and your main goal is to improve your health, moderate exercise for 30 minutes every other day is a good mimimum to start with. This amount of exercise has been linked with improving cardiovascular function, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, losing weight, and reducing stress.
• A moderate exercise intensity means that your heart rate is between 60 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Less than that and you are not taxing the cardiovascular system enough to really see improvement. More than that and you simple can’t keep up with your body’s demand for oxygen and you ‘run out of gas’.
• To determine your heart rate range, subtract your age from 220, then multiply the result by 0.6 to determine the low and by 0.8 to find the high end of your heart rate range. While exercising, you can stop and check your pulse every so often to determine if you are in this range then adjust the intensity of your exercise as needed.
• If you are just starting an exercise program it is recommended that you check with your doctor before beginning. After you get the go-ahead, it is recommended that you exercise between 50-60 percent of your maximum heart rate.
• If you already exercise regularly and would like to continue increasing overall fitness, or improve your times, you should, exercise at 60-70 percent of maximum heart rate.

Warm up - cool down

It is highly recommended that you include an easy warm up of 5-10 minutes, before moving up to your training heart rate. A 5-10 minute cool down after your training may result in faster recovery and less muscle fatigue. If you stretch, this is the best time because your muscles are warm and flexible and the risk of injury is low.

Cardiovascular workouts are designed to balance three factors for maximum effectiveness and safety: frequency, intensity and duration. You will also need to include a warm-up period before you enter the target intensity period of your workout, and a cool-down period before the end of your workout. Traditionally, you are coached to stretch the primary muscles to be used in the workout after your warm-up. There are several schools of thought on the use and effectiveness of stretching, but we will cover the traditional view here.

Stretching - cooling Down

• After you have completed your workout in your target heart rate zone, you should cool down with 5 to 10 minutes of lower intensity.
• Traditionally, you would end your workout with gentle stretching of the muscles used in the workout.

Frequency of Exercise

How often should you exercise? The American College of Sports Medicine recommends three to five days a week for most cardiovascular exercise programs. Alternating days of more intense exercise with a day of rest or easy exercise such as walking and stretching or yoga will give the body time to build and repair muscles.

Duration of Exercise

How long should you exercise in each exercise session? For cardiovascular benefits, aim for 20 to 60 minutes in your target heart rate zone, apart from the time you spend in warm-up and cool-down. At this duration, your body burns through its available glycogen energy and begins to burn stored fat. While you will still have the benefits of burning calories, if you exercise for less than 20 minutes in your zone, the best fitness benefits come from setting aside the 20 to 60 minutes to spend in the aerobic zone.

When beginning a fitness program, concentrate on increasing your duration with good posture and form before you work on increasing the intensity of your workout. If you are using walking for your workout, work on increasing the number of minutes walked in each session. A general rule of thumb is that it is safest to increase this by 10% per week. Once you are walking comfortably and with good posture and for for 60 minutes at a time, then work on increasing the intensity by adding speed, hills, or intervals.