Katarina Rogers is a dietetic student at the University of Nevada, Reno and is our guest blogger this week.
It’s probably safe to say that most of us are aware that we need to participate in some form of physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you’re considering starting a fitness routine, you may be asking yourself, “What kind of physical activity should I do?” The goals of fitness should be individualized, so I took the time to talk about the types of physical activity you may want to undertake to reach your desired goals:
Cardio/Aerobic Exercise
Cardio (cardiovascular) or aerobic activity is generally characterized as the exercise that makes you sweat, makes your heart beat faster, and makes your lungs work harder, all the while requiring more oxygen. This activity conditions your cardiovascular system and is an important part of heart health. Aerobic activities include walking, jogging, and running. If you work out in a gym, you may use an elliptical machine, treadmill, bike, or rower and these would all count as aerobic equipment.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardiovascular work a week. Moderate intensity is defined as an activity that makes you breathe harder but you can still carry on a conversation.
Flexibility Exercise
Flexibility and resistance are important for posture, movement, and strength. Flexibility is used to increase range of motion. For example, if you would like to be able to touch your toes but can only reach to your middle shins, then you will need to add hamstring stretches to increase your reach. The benefit here of the flexibility exercise would be to decrease rigidity of muscles. Stretching helps maintain a natural alignment throughout your body to help prevent injury or strain. This makes stretching important for increased performance in both cardio and resistance training. The ACOS (American College of Sports Medicine) recommends a frequency of flexibility training at least 3 times a week.
Participating in static stretching following a workout is a beneficial practice that can be added to your training schedule. Static stretching means a stretch that is held in a challenging but comfortable position for a period of time, usually somewhere between 10 to 30 seconds. Yoga and pilates are also great ways to work flexibility training into your schedule. Something as simple as having a planned stretching ritual before bed is great for your body and prepping your mind for restful sleep.
Resistance (Anaerobic) Exercise
Resistance training is also referred to as anaerobic training. Seemingly confusing, this term is used because, when your muscle is under tension, it is using immediate energy not derived from oxygen to maintain the activity. Resistance training is used to increase muscle mass, maintain muscle mass, and increase strength. Resistance training makes our bones stronger because of the increased weight bearing, which means that resistance training works as a way to prevent osteoporosis. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 2-3 times a week of resistance training. Resistance training can include body weight work, resistance bands, exercise machines using weight, and hand-held free weights. It is important to remember that with weight training, form is key to preventing injury and getting the best results for your effort.
Whatever ratio of cardio to flexibility to resistance exercise you choose to put into your fitness plan, it may be beneficial to talk to a certified personal trainer. They will know proper technique and will help you to achieve your goals. In addition to this, if you have any chronic heart conditions, it is important to talk to a doctor about your plans for exercise to ensure your safety. Learning about physical activity is just like learning any other new subject, it requires work from you and reliance on experts to give you the right information.
Karen Fisher, MS, RD, LDN, CDE is a dietitian in Reno, Nevada, happily promoting the benefits of healthy foods at her nutrition consulting firm, Nutrition Connection. Find her website at www.NutritionConnectionNV.com
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