When it comes to physical exercise, most people have an opinion – and many of these people believe that theirs is the only correct view!
Exercise Programmes
The fact is that there are exercise programs to suit all types of bodies and all types of health and fitness goals – and what might be a perfectly effective and enjoyable program for one person might be totally unsuited for another. Not everybody enjoys, or can afford to go, walking around a golf course – or going to a gym! One size does not fit all - an exercise program designed to induce weight loss may not be particularly useful for inducing relaxation and sleep.
What is important is that each of finds something that suits us. Whether it is walking or swimming – or ballroom dancing or yoga – what matters is that we enjoy it and get on and do it.
Aerobic Activity
It is currently recommended that all healthy adults should do "Moderate intensity" aerobic physical activity for a minimum of half an hour for five days each week – or "Vigorous intensity" activity for a minimum of 20 minutes three days per week. "Moderate intensity" implies exercise similar to brisk walking that noticeably increases the heart rate, while "Vigorous intensity" activity is something like jogging. One can combine vigorous and moderate activities, for example jogging on some days and walking or swimming on other days. In addition, adults should perform resistance activities that maintain muscle strength (push-ups, squats, gym work) at least two days each week.
Increasing Physical activities
If you work in an office job, exercising every day is not easy – but there are ways of increasing physical movement. Typically, a sedentary worker will only walk between 2000 and 3000 steps a day. To motivate yourself to do better, you can get yourself a pedometer (a small gadget that can be clipped to your waist and measures the number of steps you take). With this pedometer counting the number of steps you have taken each day, it is easy to motivate yourself to increase this number, eventually aiming for 10,000 steps a day. Some good strategies are to include more walking in your normal activities – for example, getting down from the bus one stop (or more) before your usual stop, parking your car a longer distance from your workplace so you have to walk the extra distance, taking the stairs instead of the lift, or taking a few short walks during the day.
Among the types of aerobic exercise you can do are
- Jogging. This is one of the best types of exercise for time efficiency – a 180-lb man jogging for 45 minutes burns between 250 and 300 calories. Being a weight-bearing form of activity, jogging also helps to improve the strength of your bones. One drawback however is that jogging can be stressful on the hips, knees and ankles when compared to walking, which you have to do for a longer period to burn up the same amount of calories.
- Swimming. Exercising in the water involves more muscle groups than walking/jogging and is far less stressful on the joints compared to jogging. It is also a very relaxing form of exercise.
People who exercise regularly have a significantly lower rate of Type II Diabetes compared with those who are inactive – while it has been shown that regular aerobic exercise lowers blood pressure in most people with hypertension.
The good news is that there is an exercise program that can be made to suit everyone. Claiming that you don’t have time to exercise is not a valid excuse. If you make regular exercise a priority, you should always be able to make time for a type of exercise that will suit you.
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