How Much Exercise Do We Need?

How much exercise do we need? The answer to that question depends on who you ask and why you are exercising. You would want to exercise more if you are trying to loss weight. The amount and kind of exercise can also depend on whether you want to improve cardiovascular health or include strength training.  

The United States government has set the guideline for exercise at 30 minutes a day. The exercise needs to be moderate in intensity. The government is probably trying to make it feasible for most people, and even says you can break it up during the day. They do encourage, however, that breaking up the time should only be done when you first begin exercising, and suggest that you should work up to 30 minutes of continuous exercise.

Moderate intensity means you start to sweat but can still carry on a conversation. Activities could be a brisk walk, cleaning house, swimming, or bicycling. The goal is to increase your heart rate somewhat to strengthen the heart muscle and pump up the metabolism. When asking the question, “How much exercise do we need?” you need to remember to try and fit the exercise into your daily activities. You also need to find something that is enjoyable, so you will be motivated to continue.  

No Pain, No Gain

Now for the bad news, just when you thought you might be able to handle 30 minutes of exercise. The Institute of Medicine has raised the bar and wants everyone to get an hour of exercise a day to maintain weight and cardiovascular health. It is true that the more you exercise the more weight you will lose and the better your health would be. They look at the 30 minute requirement as a bare minimum, not the goal. 

However, an hour is not always practical for our busy lives. If you can fit in an hour, that would be great, but as long as the heart pumps a bit more and you sweat some, you are doing your body a lot of good. So to answer the question “How much exercise do we need?” 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily is what is needed.  

Kinds of Exercise

Many people, especially personal trainers, suggest that you do some aerobic exercise and some strength training every week. The aerobic exercise should be thirty minutes of moderate intensity exercise five days a week, or 20 minutes of intense cardio three days a week. The strength training involves 8-10 exercises done twice a week.  

If you need to lose weight, you should decrease calories in your diet and exercise more. You should do both, because if you restrict your calories too much, your body will go into survival mode, slow down your metabolism, and that will defeat the purpose of eating less. Also, if you exercise too much, you can cause injury to yourself and not be able to continue or just get tired of doing so much. The practical solution is some of both. Here is some information on calories burned during certain types of activities:

• Walking briskly will burn 100 calories per mile.
• Jogging will burn 100-120 calories per mile.
• Running will take off 120 calories or more per mile.
• Aerobic exercise burns 220 calories in 30 minutes.
• Elliptical training will burn 280 in 30 minutes.
• Stationary bikes burn 575 calories in 60 minutes.
• Cross-country ski machines burn 642 calories in one hour.
• Rowing machines use 770 calories every hour.

What Are Calories?

A calorie is a measure of the heat needed to raise the temperature of a gram of water one degree Celsius. Calories are a measure of food energy. Women need 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight, and men need 2500, on average. 

To lose a pound of stored body fat, you would need to decrease caloric consumption by 3500 calories. If weight loss is your goal, keep nutrition in mind when counting calories. One hundred calories in fruit is a lot better than a chocolate bar. Also remember to drink water instead of sodas, which have a lot of calories, no nutritional value, and are acidic, which harms your body. So eat less, eat healthy, and exercise moderately.