One of the keys to keeping your heart and brain healthy is regular exercise. Every week, you should spend at least 150 minutes doing some sort of moderate-intensity exercise.
Among the more popular ways to achieve this goal is to break it into five half-hour sessions spread out during the week. But does it matter how you hit that 150-minute milestone? What if you’d rather spend a few hours exercising on the weekend – freed from the pressure of work?
Fortunately for weekend warriors, research suggests that packing your weekly exercise into one or two days gives you the same benefits as spreading it out in regular intervals throughout the week. Both strategies lowered the risk for more than 200 diseases, with a heavy emphasis on high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions related to the cardiovascular system, according to one study.
Importance of Exercise
There are many reasons to get off the couch and get your body moving. Regular exercise can offset the natural loss of strength and stamina that comes with age, keep you fit and help you live longer. Among the measurable benefits, exercise can:
- Lower your blood pressure
- Raise your good cholesterol levels
- Increase blood flow
- Help you lose or avoid gaining weight
- Guard against osteoporosis by preventing bone loss
Exercise can also boost your mental health, particularly if you find an activity you enjoy. If you hate running on a treadmill, don't make yourself miserable by running on a treadmill. Instead, pick something that makes you happy. Maybe you’d rather ride a bike outdoors or play a team sport like basketball or soccer. Adding a social component is a great way to achieve both cardiovascular and mental benefits.
Exercise Strategies
When setting your exercise goals, it’s important to understand how hard you should be working out. Your goal is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise. But how do you measure that?
You can break down exercise intensity into three levels:
- You are exercising at light intensity when you can talk and even sing without difficulty.
- The intensity level raises to moderate when you lose the ability to sing but can still talk comfortably.
- You reach the vigorous level when you can only say a few words between breaths.
You should also consider adding resistance training to your workout plan, particularly as you get older. This can help fight the natural loss of muscle mass that accelerates once you reach your 60s and beyond. It also helps increase bone density.
If you are just getting started with exercise, find a way to make it a regular part of your routine. For example, you could set aside half an hour a day – before or after work. Or you could set aside a block of time every weekend. Find a friend, family member or coworker to be your exercise partner. You’ll be able to hold each other accountable.
Weekend Warriors and Injury Risk
It might seem that limiting your exercise to one or two days a week could make you more vulnerable to injury. Weekend warriors can effectively eliminate any extra risk by being smart and warming up properly.
For example, if you aren’t running regularly, it may not be wise to attempt a marathon on Saturday morning. If you aren’t lifting weights during week, don’t try powerlifting on the weekend. The risk comes from not giving your body a chance to adjust to the sudden change in activity level.
Be realistic about what you can expect from your body. And take the time to warm up – with lighter activity and stretches – and cool down after you are finished.
Every person is different, making it difficult to say exactly what you should or shouldn’t do. That’s why it is so important to listen to your body. If you push yourself too hard, you’ll know it by the way your body reacts. When you feel pain, pay attention.
In the end, remember that it doesn’t matter how you get active. Just be active. If you can work out every morning or afternoon, that’s great. But if your schedule dictates a weekend-workout routine, that’s great too. The more you can stay active, the better you are going to feel.
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