KEY TAKEAWAY: To reap the benefits that exercise can provide, target to meet the minimum recommended guidelines for cardiovascular and strength training activity. Scroll down to the TAKE ACTION section for this week’s actionable steps.

Yes, you know. Exercise is good for you. We all know.

Exercise supports our physical health and ability to function fully, helps our brains function better, and can help prevent nasty health conditions we’d prefer to avoid, such as various cancers, osteoporosis, and more.¹ It also enhances our brain functioning and mood.¹ There are so many logical reasons for doing exercise.

However, the one that finally made me start and stick to it was none of the above. It was this:

It made me feel good.

It helped me get out of a life rut, free from a dysfunctional relationship with food, and basically live bigger and better. It’s amazing what you can do when you feel good. Getting hooked on exercise was one of the single best things that has happened to me and to those around me. After all, feeling good meant I showed up better not just in my life but in the lives of the people I loved.

Bottom line: Exercise is the closest thing we have to a magic elixir that keeps us feeling and looking good.

However, today’s post is not to convince you to exercise.

If you are like me, you need to reach your “more uncomfortable” to get there on your own. Your “more uncomfortable” is the point at which not making a change — such as starting and sticking to exercise — is more uncomfortable than the change itself. In other words, it becomes worth the effort to you. After all, exercise takes effort, so it needs to be worth yours, and only you can say if and when that will be.

So, no, this post is not to convince you to start partaking in this amazing elixir, but it is to share with you — if and when you have reached your more uncomfortable and committed to exercising — how much you need to do to reap the benefits of doing so. In particular, how much cardiovascular activity and strength training should you do?

Cardiovascular Exercise: What’s Enough?

Cardiovascular activity, or “cardio,” is a physical activity that works your heart, which is a muscle.² The recommended amount of cardiovascular exercise each week is as follows:

• The minimum recommended amount of cardiovascular exercise per week is 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous cardiovascular activity.³
• The recommended amount to “enjoy additional and more extensive health benefits” is **300 minutes of moderate-**intensity or **150 minutes of vigorous-**intensity cardiovascular activity per week.³

Moderate-intensity cardiovascular activity is where you’re moving enough to burn off three to six times as much energy per minute than when you sit quietly.³ Examples of moderate-intensity activities include walking very briskly; heavy cleaning, such as vacuuming or mopping; mowing the lawn with a push mower; bicycling with light effort (10–12 mph); and tennis doubles.³ From a heart rate perspective, moderate activity is about 50-70% of your Maximum Heart Rate, or MHR (more on MHR below).³ Working at this level, you’ll be able to talk to someone, but you probably won’t be able to sing a song.

Vigorous-intensity cardiovascular activity is where you burn more than six times the energy you’d burn if sitting quietly.³ Examples of vigorous-intensity activities include jogging; shoveling snow or dirt; carrying heavy loads; bicycling fast; basketball; rowing; aerobics; jumping rope; and singles tennis.³ From a heart rate perspective, vigorous aerobic activity is about 70–85% of your MHR.³ Working at this level, you typically could say a few words but would need to pause for breath.

If you scheduled 25 minutes of moderate-intensity activity six days a week, you’d meet the 150 minutes of moderate exercise. You’d also meet the target if you did 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity five days a week. Of course, you can also do a mix of moderate and vigorous cardiovascular exercise. However you choose to design it, you want to move your body enough in terms of time and effort to challenge your cardiovascular system more than you do when sitting or walking leisurely from point A to point B.

The good news is that cardio is incredibly flexible, so there are many ways to get a great cardio workout to fit any fitness level, preference, or schedule. You can combine, mix, and match the intensity, time, and activity as it best fits you and meets the recommended guidelines. Be creative and flexible. Find what fits you and then target to meet the minimum recommendations.

Strength Training: What’s Enough?

Muscle-strengthening activities increase “skeletal muscle strength, power, endurance, and mass.”² So, how much strength training should you do? The recommended amount of strength training exercise each week is as follows:

• Two days of moderate- or high-intensity muscle training each week that challenges the muscle more than normal activities and that targets the key muscles (legs, butt, back, chest, core, shoulders, and arms)³

Examples of strength training activities include lifting weights or working with resistance bands, climbing stairs, hill walking, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and yoga.³

There are various ways that you can structure your strength training program to meet the minimum recommendation. For example, you could strength train your whole body twice a week or work out three days a week, focusing more intensely on specific muscle groups. There are also many different physical activities that you can do to challenge your muscles to build strength, like yoga and swimming.

The two key points I want you to take away with you when it comes to strength training are: One, you need to train your entire body, not just parts of it—your legs, butt, back, chest, core, shoulders, and arms. Two, you need to challenge yourself more than normal—as they say, if it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.

Before You Begin

Exercise is great and great for you. Often, it’s what is recommended to help prevent or improve a multitude of health conditions. Most people can do it very safely. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t be smart about how you go about it. So, keep in mind the following when you start out:

• Seek Medical Clearance: It is generally recommended to consult your physician before beginning a new exercise program, especially if it’s been a while since you last exercised, you are new to exercise, or you have other health circumstances to consider. Therefore, see your doctor as appropriate for you and your situation.
• Have the Right Gear: Have the right shoes for the activity you’re doing, as well as any other appropriate gear that will give your body the support it needs as you exercise (ladies, this includes a good bra).
• Always Warm Up & Cool Down: To get the most out of your workout and have less chance of injury, warm up and cool down. Warm up before your main activity to ease your body into your workout. Allow enough time to cool down and ease your body back to its normal state after training. Include stretching as part of your cool-down.
• Always Listen to Your Body: Your body will send you signals before, during, and after your exercise. Listen to it. There is a difference between what is healthy exertion or post-workout discomfort and what may be signaling an issue, so let your body guide you. If in doubt, err on the side of caution or see your physician if you are uncertain. Safety first.

As part of this, know your maximum and target heart rate and monitor your heart rate and how you feel as you exercise. Your MHR is the upper level of what your heart can pump in one minute.⁵ A stress fitness test at the doctor’s office can determine your MHR; however, in lieu of that, an approximate calculation is to take 220 and subtract your age.⁵ Example: If you’re 50, your MHR is 220 minus 50 or 170. Be aware that certain medications, like blood pressure medication, can affect the heart rate, so make sure you understand how any medication you are taking might affect yours.⁵

In addition, allow your muscles time to recover. Muscles generally need about 48 hours of recovery before you work them again.⁶ For example, if you work out your lower body on Monday, then you would wait until Wednesday to work that area again. (Post-workout muscle soreness tends to peak about two days after exercise, so you may not feel like working the same area out anyway without allowing a couple of days to recover).

• Stay Hydrated: Drink enough water or other hydrating liquids before, during, and after you exercise to stay hydrated and replenish lost fluids. A general rule is to target getting about two (for women) or three (for men) liters of water and then adjust that to fit you, your activity level, and other needs.
• Fuel Your Workout & Results: Plan your pre- and post-workout nutrition to support your workout and results. For pre-workout nutrition, fuel up with energizing food, taking into account when and what you’ll be doing, for how long, and the intensity of your workout. After your workout, replenish your energy and help your muscles recover with a combination of carbohydrates and protein.
• Get A Guide When You’re Starting Out: If you’re new to the exercise you’re doing, consider enlisting the guidance of a knowledgeable person who can show you what to do and how to do it to help you avoid injury and get the most from your planned activity. This can be especially beneficial for strength training, as statistics find that women tend to do less strength training than men, partly due to feeling self-conscious or lacking confidence about what to do.⁴
• Exercise Mindfully: Last but not least, pay attention as you exercise to reap greater benefits and avoid accidents. I’ve known people to break ankles from missed curbs and suffer a concussion from a weight machine. I personally almost ran into the Bosphorous Sea more times than I care to admit while trying to make notes on my phone while running in Istanbul, where we lived, and I did break my T3 vertebrae when I slipped walking down the stairs. Accidents are called accidents for a reason, often caused by not paying attention, so be mindful as you exercise (and in general). As part of exercising mindfully, use proper form to avoid injury or wear and tear that can be caused by doing movements improperly.

DO MORE & MIX THINGS UP

As you progress and feel more confident, do more. Challenge yourself in terms of time and intensity. Expand your activity repertoire and try different activities. Add new experiences.

Do this for three reasons:

Reason #1: Continue to challenge yourself so that you can avoid stagnation, physical and mental, as well as overuse.

Our bodies physically adapt to the challenge we give them. They become stronger and fitter. However, if we stop challenging them, they will stop adapting. By mixing things up in terms of time, intensity, and types of exercises, your body will continue to be challenged and rise to meet that challenge.

For example, if you’re doing cardio exercise and want to mix things up, instead of walking, try jogging, adding intervals of higher and lower effort, or adding hills to increase intensity. Alternatively, add in different activities, such as biking or swimming. If you’re strength training, mix things up by changing your workout program, such as by changing the number of days you’re working out each week, the mix of muscles you’re targeting on particular days, the weight/resistance or intensity, the number of sets or repetitions you’re doing, and/or the types of exercises. You can also add in different activities, such as yoga or Pilates, to challenge your body.

Different activities will work your muscles differently and expand your repertoire. Diversifying your activities can also help to avoid wear and tear caused by repeatedly doing the same exercise. Mixing up activities is also good for avoiding mental stagnation or boredom.

So, how do you know when you need to mix things up?

In general, think about adjusting your workout when you experience any of the following:

• Your workout is no longer challenging. When you can finish your workout program without much difficulty, it’s time to mix things up.
• You aren’t getting results. If you feel like you’ve stopped seeing or feeling results, then it’s time to mix things up.
• You’re bored. If you find yourself just going through the motions, it’s time to mix things up. Even if you’re still challenged physically, if you find yourself mentally bored, mix things up. Your mind is just as important a participant as your body, so make sure you engage both.

(And, of course, if you feel strain or discomfort that might indicate you are overusing a particular part of your body, that could be another sign that you should consider adjusting something in your workout.)

Reason #2: Make your world bigger by exploring new activities.

Mixing things up can also make your world bigger. As I became stronger and fitter, I expanded my repertoire of activities. As a result, I didn’t just do more but also experienced more. I ran a 7k race in Russia, went to Pilates and yoga retreats in Turkey, snowshoed in the mountains of Switzerland, cross-country and downhill skied in Austria, played tennis in Thailand, rode horseback in the Hungarian Puszta, and more. In every new place we moved or traveled to, I explored and became familiar with cities through running and biking. I experienced more because I could do more.

Of course, you don’t have to go to different countries to explore and experience new things. You can find something much closer to home. However, you get to choose what you want to do and where. You have the option of trying new things — whether they’re in your backyard or on another continent — because you can. You aren’t limited by what you can’t do.

Reason #3: Experience the truth that more is more when it comes to exercise.

Most of us aren’t at risk of doing too much activity. Overtraining aside, you will see and feel more benefits when you do more than the minimum. The bottom line is that the body is made to move, and it loves to move.

So, move it enough.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Do Enough Cardio: Try to get in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate- or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardiovascular exercise per week, or some combination of that.²
2. Do Enough Strength Training: Target to do at least two days each week of moderate- or high-intensity muscle training each week that challenges your muscles more than normal activities do and targets the key muscle areas — legs, butt, back, chest, core, shoulders, and arms.³
3. Before You Begin: Safety first. While exercise is great, you can do things to help ensure it is great for you, such as by seeking medical clearance before you begin as appropriate to your situation; having the appropriate gear that supports your body as you exercise (e.g., shoes, sports bra); getting professional guidance if you are new to an activity; warming up and cooling down; staying hydrated; planning your pre- and post-workout nutrition to support your workout and results; mixing things up to avoid stagnation or overuse; listening to your body and signals that indicate you may be overdoing it; and exercising mindfully to avoid accidents or injury.

References:

1: Benefits of Exercise:

(2021, April 5). Benefits of Physical Activity. CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm

Cornelissen, Véronique A., Fagard, Robert H., Coeckelberghs, Ellen and Vanhees, Luc (2011, September 6). Impact of Resistance Training on Blood Pressure and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors — A Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Controlled Trials. Hypertension. 2011;58:950–958. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.177071

Davidson, Katey, MScFN, RD, CPT (2021, August 16). 14 Benefits of Strength Training. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/benefits-of-strength-training#benefits

DeVries, Carrie (2015, July 6). Strength Training Can Crush Arthritis Pain. Arthritis-Health. Retrieved from https://www.arthritis-health.com/blog/strength-training-can-crush-arthritis-pain

Mayo Clinic Staff (2019, May 11). Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389

(2020, September 22). From Head to Toe: The (Many) Benefits of a Cardio Workout. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2016/02/head-toe-benefits-cardio-workout-infographic/

Kravitz, Len Ph.D. Yes, Resistance Training Can Reverse the Aging Process. University of New Mexico. Retrieved from

https://www.unm.edu/

(2019, September 25). Lack of Physical Activity. CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/physical-activity.htm

Landa, Jennifer, Dr. (2013, September 9). How working out can improve your sex life. Fox News. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/health/how-working-out-can-improve-your-sex-life

Levine, Hallie (2019, June 12). Strength Training’s Surprising Health Benefits: How lifting weights can protect your brain, blood sugar, mood, and more. AARP. Retrieved from https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2019/strength-training-health-benefits.html

Mack, Stan. Is It a Myth That Muscle Burns More Calories Than Fat? Livestrong. Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/447243-is-it-a-myth-that-muscle-burns-more-calories-than-fat/

Salles, J. I., Velasques, B., Cossich, V., Nicoliche, E., Ribeiro, P., Amaral, M. V., & Motta, G. (2015). Strength training and shoulder proprioception. Journal of athletic training, 50(3), 277–280. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.84

Sheps, Sheldon G., M.D. Weightlifting: Bad for your blood pressure? Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/expert-answers/weightlifting/faq-20058451

Shiroma, E. J., Cook, N. R., Manson, J. E., Moorthy, M. V., Buring, J. E., Rimm, E. B., & Lee, I. M. (2017). Strength Training and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 49(1), 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001063

Sturos, Eric, MD (2020, January 24). Weight Training Effectively Relieves Back Pain. Spine Health. Retrieved from https://www.spine-health.com/blog/weight-training-effectively-relieves-back-pain

Vieira, Ginger (2019, March 11). Healthline: How Lifting Weights Can Reduce Your Risk for Type 2 Diabetes. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/weight-training-can-help-people-with-type-2-diabetes

Weight Bearing. Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/preventing-fractures/exercise-to-stay-healthy/weight-bearing/#:

2: Definitions Cardiovascular Activity & Strength Training

Definition muscle-strengthening activity. Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health. Appendix 5 Glossary. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK305048/

Fyzical.com. What Is Cardiovascular Exercise? Retrieved from https://www.fyzical.com/lakewoodranch/blog/What-Is-a-Cardiovascular-Exercise

3: Physical Activity Guidelines

General Physical Activities Defined by Level of Intensity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/pdf/pa_intensity_table_2_1.pdf

(2018). Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition (2018) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf

4: Women Strength Training Statistics

Hurley KS, Flippin KJ, Blom LC, Bolin JE, Hoover DL, Judge LW. Practices, Perceived Benefits, and Barriers to Resistance Training Among Women Enrolled in College. Int J Exerc Sci. 2018 May 1;11(5):226–238. PMID: 29795737; PMCID: PMC5955292.

ScienceDaily (2020, November 5). Researchers study strength-training gender gap, possible solutions. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105115157.htm

5: Heart Rate & Warming Up/Cooling Down

Mayo Clinic Staff. Aerobic exercise: How to warm up and cool down. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20045517#:

Target Heart Rates Chart. Heart.org. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates#:

6: Braverman, Jody (2019, March 20). How Much Rest Between Workouts for Muscle Growth? Livestrong. Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/374066-how-much-rest-between-workouts-for-muscle-growth/

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IMPORTANT: The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional with any questions you may have regarding the topics discussed here as the topics discussed are based on general principles and may not be applicable to every individual. 

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