DailyDirt: Who Has Time To Exercise?
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
There are all kinds of exercise fads, creating a vast array of gadgets that are supposed to help people get in shape or lose weight or magically make their lives better in every way. But no one really needs plastic handles attached to springs/elastic cords or wheels/pulleys or even weights to improve their health. It takes commitment. And usually that means dedicating some time to exercising regularly. The good news is that the minimum required time for exercise to have any impact seems to be pretty short. Here are some links for those of you looking to start exercising now that it’s summer (in the northern hemisphere).
- The American Heart Association recommends about 30 minutes of aerobic activity for 3-5 days per week AND some muscle-strengthening activity for at least 2 or more days per week. But the AHA also says that something is better than nothing, if several hours of exercise per week sounds ambitious. [url]
- High intensity workouts have gotten a lot of media attention recently — focusing on “7 minute” regimens and similar programs that try to speed things up a bit. CAUTION: these strenuous exercise programs are not for beginners! [url]
- Don’t have time for seven minutes? How about just four minutes? Some researchers are even trying to determine if people can get away with less than four minutes, too. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: aerobic activity, exercise, fads, health, high intensity training, workout
Companies: american heart association
Comments on “DailyDirt: Who Has Time To Exercise?”
I just make flexagons.
Does playing a flame throwing wind pipe counts as aerobic exercise?
Just don’t tell darryl, his kangaroo mates are pirating music on the streets.
Have you ever seen a 50 to 70 year old person in good shape doing only a 4 to 7 minute routine?
Or for that matter doing only 30 minutes 3 to 5 times a week.
Re: Re:
It’s not about being “in good shape.”
It’s about being healthy. The two are not necessarily interdependent.
The best thing that most people could do for their health AND fitness would be some basic strength training.
HIIT over-rated.
I have do occasional HIIT workouts and you need to separate the hype from the reality.
They don’t count warmup time, which is critical if you are going to do an all out intervals. So add about 4 mins. Also the rest periods often aren’t counted. Add 1-2 minutes per interval, and likely another 4 minutes to cool down.
I did a peak 8 type interval workout today. Here is what it looked like:
4 Min warmup
8 X intervals(20 sec all out + 100 sec rest) 16 minutes total
4 minute cooldown.
Total Interval time is only 160 seconds. Less that 3 minutes of Work. This is how it often gets hyped.
But it takes 24 minutes of real time.
Also if you are really going all out on your intervals, you won’t enjoy the “rest” part. You will be deep in oxygen debt, and gasping to catch your breath.
If you ever watch video of anyone doing these workouts, the moderate aerobic control group is left on their own to relax and go at moderate pace, while the interval group is coached to: “Go!, Go!, Go!”.
Are you going to have a coach at home, or are you highly motivated to push yourself very hard over and over like you were being coached?
Intervals have their place, but be aware the are quite overhyped in general.
“Being healthy” without running nonstop for 25 hours a day? Blasphemy!
“I call it ‘7 Minute Abs.'”
“What if someone comes out with ‘6 Minute Abs?'”
Re: Re:
Beat me to it, it’s exactly what came to mind when I read that.