It’s that time of year when people are making a point to become more physically active to improve their health. Many of these people will fall off the wagon after a couple of months because they overdid themselves. The reality is that people think they need way more exercise than they really do to reach maximum health benefits. Remember, your body does need to rest so don’t think you have to hit the gym every single day for hours.
How Much Exercise Is Enough
How long you exercise depends on the type of physical activity you do. According to CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), adults need 150 minutes a week if they plan on working out at moderate intensity. For those of you that like to have an intense workout, you only have to fit in 75 minutes a week into your schedule. The CDC also recommends that you have at least two days of strengthening exercises for all your major muscle groups.
As you can see, these times are calculated per week. That’s because it doesn’t matter how long you exercise each time, it’s whether you get the minimum in total during the week. Of course, if you do more, there’s no harm and you will burn more calories. However, you are looking for the minimum to achieve health benefits those are your goals!
Photo Courtesy of: mikebaird on Flickr
Thu, Jan 7, 2010
Health, Weight Loss