Aerobic Exercise (cont.)
How much aerobic exercise do you need to do to gain the benefits?
There are
two physical activity guidelines in the Unites States. The first, the Surgeon
General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, is a lifestyle
recommendation. That is, you can modify it to fit into your daily routine and
activities of daily living. The recommendation is that all adults should
accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, if not all days of
the week. The key words are "accumulate" and "moderate-intensity." Accumulate
means that you can do 10-15 minutes at a time and repeat that a couple of times
throughout the day; for example, 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch,
and 10 minutes around dinner. Moderate intensity is equivalent to feeling "warm
and slightly out of breath" when you do it. Recently there has been some controversy about the effectiveness of this guideline and its benefits. At the moment the recommendation stands, but we may hear more about it in the not-too-distant future.
The second recommendation is from
the American College of Sports Medicine. The ACSM recommends 20-60 minutes of
continuous aerobic activity (biking, walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, etc.)
three to five times a week, at 60%-90% of maximum heart rate, and two to three days of resistance
training. This is a more formal, "workout" recommendation, although you can also
accumulate the more intense workout in bouts of 10-15 minutes throughout the day
if you like. Follow this recommendation and your fitness and your health will improve.
Which one you choose is a personal choice. They are not intended to
compete with each other but rather to provide options and maybe even complement
each other. For instance, the Surgeon General's recommendation may be more
practical for individuals who are unwilling, or unable, to adopt the more formal ACSM recommendation. Of course, there's no downside to working out regularly
with aerobic exercise and also becoming more physically active as per the
Surgeon General (take more stairs, mow the lawn by hand, park far away from the
store and walk), so combining them might be a good decision.
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