Just Three Things – Exercise
- Category: Fitness, Health, Physical Fitness
- Posted On:
- Written By: Abby Magness, ACSM, C-EP
- Cardio
- Adults should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.
- This can be 30 to 60 minutes three times a week at moderate intensity or 20 to 60 minutes three times a week at vigorous-intensity.
- Strength Training/Weight Lifting
- Adults should train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment.
- Very light or light intensity is best for older persons or previously sedentary adults starting exercise.
- Two to four sets of each exercise will help adults improve strength and power.
- For each exercise, eight to twelve repetitions improve strength and power, ten to fifteen repetitions improve strength in middle-age and older persons starting exercise, and fifteen to twenty repetitions improve muscular endurance.
- Flexibility Training
- Adults should do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week to improve range of motion.
- Each stretch should be held for ten to thirty seconds to the point of tightness or slight discomfort.
- Repeat each stretch two to four times, accumulating 60 seconds per stretch.
- Static, dynamic, ballistic and PNF stretches are all effective. (PNF Stretches are Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation stretches. This is “a method of stretching muscles to maximize their flexibility that is often performed with a partner or trainer and that involves a series of contractions and relaxations with enforced stretching during the relaxation phase. Definition source: Merriam-Webster)
- Flexibility exercise is most effective when the muscle is warm. Try light aerobic activity or a hot bath to warm the muscles before stretching.
