The leading health authorities provide official guidelines for how much exercise you should get every week and the types of exercise that could benefit you, such as cardio or strength training.
Having a science-backed target is useful. The amount of exercise you need will differ based on factors like your age, gender, health, and hormones.
Starting your exercise journey can be intimidating, but you’ve taken the most important step by starting. If you add even a small amount of physical activity to your daily routine, you will improve your health, feel more energetic, and be in a better mood. Additionally, this extra activity will help you to have more endurance for future workouts.
What you eat plays a big role in how well your body manages blood sugar.
How much exercise should you do?
The U.S. The Department of Human and Health Services recommends that adults aged 18 years or older get at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise every week.
Aerobic exercise involves physical activity that uses your larger muscle groups, like those in your arms or legs. Aerobic exercise is any type of activity that gets your heart and lungs working harder.
Or, you could do 75-150 minutes of hard aerobic exercise and get a similar result. HHS also recommends adding muscle strengthening exercises to your routine on at least 2 days of the week.
This text is suggesting that working out for 2.5 hours a week can be divided into shorter workouts that fit better into a busy lifestyle.
This approach may be better for you than trying to fit all of your activity into a weekend.
Reaching the amount of physical activity recommended by the HHS can take some time. You might want to consider beginning with ten-minute long sessions of exercise each day and slowly working up to the recommended amount.
The benefits of exercise are most powerful when you can sustain them and enjoy them.
if you want to improve your fitness level, these numbers can act as goals to strive for.
Adding strength training exercises to your routine
Strength training not only makes you physically stronger, but also helps your body to digest food more efficiently. It has been proven that living a healthy lifestyle reduces your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic health problems.
Increasing muscle strength isn’t just for carrying luggage; it can also prevent muscle weakness later in life.
You should slowly increase the amount of strength training you do, based on your fitness level, personal goals, and health needs.
The following exercises can help you build strength:
- lifting weights
- using resistance bands
- doing sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups
- completing weighted squats
Over the course of a week, try to balance your strength workout so that it targets all muscle groups. You should focus on your shoulders, arms, chest, back, hips, and stomach. And definitely don’t forget leg day.
There are several ways to get through your sets. It is generally considered optimal to do 8-12 repetitions of an exercise in a set, and if you are able to do 3 or more sets of an exercise before moving on, you are on the right track.
If you do not feel comfortable with the weight you are using, focus on improving your form. Good form includes correct posture, engaging the correct muscles, and properly holding the weight.
Exercise recommendations for different age groups
Every age group does not need to do the same amount of exercise, nor can they do the same amount. The physical activity requirements differ for people of different ages.
Young children aged 3–5 years
It’s tough to get kids to focus on exercising for very long, but that could be a good thing. Recommendations for children include allowing structured and unstructured active play during the day, aiming for at least 3 hours per day:
- Structured play: This includes sports, games, and planned activities.
- Unstructured play: This includes free play, such as skipping on the playground during recess or running around the garden screaming for no reason.
If your children use electronic devices, try to make sure that they spend more time playing active games than they do staring at screens. It helps establish healthy exercise habits for later on in life.
Older children and teens
Children aged 6-17 should aim to get at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every day. It can be healthy for children to be encouraged to set goals, but the sports and activities they pursue should be appropriate for their age and level of development.
Aerobic exercise is best for this age group, and recommendations include:
- walking
- running
- playing dodgeball
- skipping
- chasing friends around the playground
- playing soccer
- biking
This group of people should exercise regularly to keep their muscles and bones strong. They should do activities that are strenuous and make them sweat at least three times a week.
Good muscle-strengthening exercises for teens include:
- using climbing frames and playground sets
- participating in track and field
- swimming at high speeds
- doing push-ups
Exercises that are effective at boosting bone strength include:
- playing tug of war
- carrying friends’ book bags around
- using resistance bands
- playing tennis
Exercise that is considered to be vigorous-intensity can be any of the aerobic exercises that are done at a higher speed or with more force.
Older adults
The recommended amount of sleep for older adults is the same as that for younger adults. If you are looking to get healthier, aim for at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity.
According to the HHS, older adults can help reduce falls by practicing balance-improving activities like one-leg standing or yoga for 3 days of the week.
With advanced age can come chronic health problems. If you suffer from a chronic or debilitating condition, try to stay as active as your level of physical fitness will allow.
The goal should be to move around more and sit less – no matter what that looks like for you.
Exercise and menopause
When a woman goes through menopause, her body loses bone at a faster rate, which makes her more likely to develop osteoporosis or break a bone.
Strength training helps keep bones strong and healthy.
Although more research is needed, there is some evidence that regular exercise may help with other menopause symptoms.
What are the types of exercise?
Cardio
cardio is any movement that gets your heart rate up, your blood pumping and your lungs working. This activity not only benefits your heart health, but also improves your overall physical and mental wellbeing. We’ve all heard how good cardio can be for us, but we don’t all know the reasons why cardio can help to lower stress, improve sleep, and make you feel good by flooding your brain with endorphins. This is also a great way to lose weight.
That’s one of its best qualities. One of the best qualities of cardio is that it can be the most easily accessible form of exercise. Cardio can be achieved through activities such as a brisk walk or yard work, as long as you work hard enough to start sweating and feel out of breath. While the classic image of cardio is someone huffing and puffing on a jog, there are so many activities to choose from when it comes to cardio:
- Walking and hiking: Walking is one of the best cardio exercises out there because it can be done almost anywhere and with little equipment. All you need is a pair of comfortable, sturdy shoes. If you’re just starting out, walk 5-10 minutes per day and work your way up to 30 minutes or more per day. Regular walking can help you lose weight, prevent disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your mood. Hiking allows you to explore and enjoy nature, and often burns more calories than walking by involving steeper, more uneven paths.
- Running: Like walking, you just need a pair of well-fitting shoes to start running. No matter where you run or how fast you go, regular runs can improve your cardiovascular health, your bones and muscles, and your mental health.
- Dancing: For a fun, exciting workout, try dancing. While dance can bring the same cardiovascular benefits as other forms of cardio, it can also help increase flexibility as you move your body in new ways. And the social aspects of dancing, not to mention learning the choreography, strengthen our cognitive function.
- Cycling: Cycling is a great way to target and strengthen your lower body while working your heart and lungs. And the task of staying upright on a bicycle, stationary or not, helps your balance and posture. Riding a bike is also a great alternative to one of our most popular sedentary activities: driving. The next time you have somewhere to go – the grocery store, a friend’s house, the post office – try riding your bike instead.
- Swimming: When you swim, you get all the cardiovascular benefits of aerobic exercise, with none of the impact. Working out in the water gives your joints a break while still strengthening muscles throughout your body. And you can burn calories without all the sweat.
- Jumping rope: Nothing gets the heart pumping like jumping rope. It’s an incredibly efficient cardiovascular workout that you can squeeze into any busy schedule. You can get all the heart healthy benefits you need from just 10-15 minutes of jumping rope. And it’s fun!
Strength training
Strength training can help you build muscle and lose fat. Exercise that involves resistance, such as lifting heavy objects or working against gravity, strengthens muscles. There are many different types of strength training based on the equipment you are using and how much weight you are lifting.
- Body weight exercises: When you’re getting started with strength training, exercises that use only your body weight are usually enough for you to start getting stronger. Pushups, planks, squats, lunges and burpees are all great options. Doing these exercises without additional weight also allows you to practice and perfect proper form, which is essential for preventing injuries in the future.
- Weight machines: Using weight machines allows for more opportunities to practice your weightlifting form before you lift unassisted. Machines can also help you target specific muscles and give you a more controlled range of motion.
- Free weights: Lifting weights is considered a functional exercise, meaning it can make you better at daily tasks like climbing the stairs, carrying grocery bags and cleaning around the house. It trains entire muscle groups to improve strength, balance and coordination.
A comprehensive strength training routine can include a combination of weight-lifting, calisthenics, and resistance exercises.
Stretching
Stretching improves your flexibility, which is the ability to move your joints and muscles through a range of motion without pain. If you want to improve your physical performance and prevent injuries, you should make stretching a regular habit. It is beneficial to stretch at any time, but muscles are more pliable and less likely to be injured when stretching after a workout when they are warmed up from movement.
- Static stretching: This kind of stretch is achieved through lengthening your muscles as far as they will go without pain, and then holding that position for 15-30 seconds. There are two types of static stretching, active and passive. In active stretching, you contract one muscle to allow the opposite muscle to relax. Lying on your back and lifting your leg straight up into the air makes your thigh muscle contract, while your hamstring can lengthen and stretch. In passive stretching, you use an external force, like your hand, to help your body stretch. When you bend your knee and use your hand to hold your foot behind you to stretch your thigh muscle, that is a passive stretch.
- Dynamic stretching: Before a workout, try dynamic stretching to get your muscles warmed up and ready for activity. Dynamic stretching is more active than just touching your toes. Movements include toe touches, high knees, butt kicks and lateral shuffles.
If you are experiencing pain when you are stretching, you should consult with your doctor or a physical therapist. A physiotherapist can help you identify which stretches will not cause pain and can help improve your flexibility over time.
Balance exercises
The ability to maintain your equilibrium is important for multiple sports as well as everyday activities, and this becomes increasingly true as you age. practicing balance exercises now will help you stay steadier on your feet later in life, and avoid falls and the injuries that come with them.
- Yoga: Better sleep, better mood, better flexibility – yoga has a lot of benefits. A huge part of any yoga practice is balance. Yoga challenges your body to maintain balance as it flows through dynamic poses and maintains different positions. In doing so, you release tight muscles and strengthen those essential stabilizer muscles, both of which lower your risk of falling.
- Tai chi: A low-impact exercise that can be done almost anywhere, tai chi is an excellent way to control stress and improve balance. The flowing movements from one pose to the next allow you to practice shifting your weight from one foot to another with your arms outstretched.
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