Exercise: How Hard Do I Really Have To Work?

The answer to this really depends on those goals you identified before getting started. If you just asked yourself, "What goals?" please read: http://gymjunkie-katie.blogspot.com/2011/07/ouch-there-goes-my-wagon.html.

The Surgeon General currently recommends 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. If you're healthy, do not have more than a few pounds to lose, and do not have a particular fitness goal (such as running a marathon), this can help you remain at a healthy weight while maintaining your cardiovascular fitness. If you have a lot of weight to lose, or a lofty goal of doing a 150 mile bike race, marathon, 2 mile swim in Lake Michigan, this isn't going to cut it.

If you have weight to lose, I would plan on increasing that time to 250-300 minutes/week at moderate-intensity (that's at most 1 hour, 5 days/week). With that said, I wouldn't jump from 0 to 300 right away, or you will risk injuring yourself. Identify your goals, then ease into a plan, beginning with 30 minutes a day of brisk walking, swimming, or anything low-impact. Once you feel comfortable doing so, bump a couple of days up to 45-60 minutes until you're doing that 5 days per week.

Maximize your time. Your routine should consist of both heart-pumping cardio and strength training. To lose weight, you will not only have to burn lots of calories, but you will need to convert some of your fat to muscle to increase your metabolic rate and thus your calorie burn when your body is at rest. To get cardio and strength simultaneously, try circuit training (http://gymjunkie-katie.blogspot.com/2011/07/circuit-training-1.html). This will engage the large muscle groups that cause your heart rate to increase, giving you the cardiovascular benefits while building muscle. Do this 2-3 days a week, and cardio on the other days.

Moderate-intensity is a relative term. I would use the following rule of thumb:  if you're exercising and can comfortably carry on a conversation, stop talking and get to work. You should be able to say your name, and maybe one or two words between breaths. You don't need to be stooped over, panting, on the verge of getting sick, but you should focus more on the exercise you're doing than conversing with a friend. Any aerobic exercise that makes your heart and breathing rates increase, and makes you sweat is acceptable. Don't be fooled by swimming - you might not realize you're sweating, but if you're working hard, you are! Use your breathing as a guide here.

If you have a sport-specific goal, follow a sport-specific plan (let me know if you need one). Obviously, if you're doing a 150 mile bike ride, you should focus your cardiovascular efforts on endurance in cycling and some extra lower-body strength in addition to total-body strength. If you're doing a 2 mile swim in Lake Michigan, some open-water swims should be on your schedule, as well as total-body strength. For these individuals, you are focusing on cardiovascular and strength endurance, and will definitely need to put in more than 1 hour on some days to get in those longer swims, bike rides, runs, etc. On those longer training days, your intensity may be a little lower, so that you can maintain effort for however many miles/laps you've got ahead of you.

Stay tuned for Heart Rate Training to come next week...

Go sweat!