The right workout routine for you depends on a variety of factors. It is important to include cardiovascular exercise, muscle-strengthening exercises and flexibility training.
Cardiovascular activities can include anything that gets your heart rate up, from walking or jogging to cycling or taking a fitness class. For muscle-strengthening exercises, you can use weights, free weights or your own bodyweight.
Cardiovascular
Cardiovascular workouts are a vital part of any well-rounded workout routine. While they may not burn as many calories as resistance training, they help to improve muscular endurance and burn excess body fat. Regular cardiovascular exercise also improves circulation, which reduces the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
Cardio workouts are any type of activity that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up for a sustained period. They can be anything from a brisk walk to swimming, dancing or a high-intensity workout.
Experts recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise. The best way to achieve these goals is by scheduling one-hour sessions that include both cardiovascular and resistance training.
Incorporating high-intensity interval training, which is designed to increase the intensity of your workout in short bursts, can also help you meet your cardiovascular goals more quickly.
Including a few short cardio “bursts” in your weekly workout routine is easy enough to do at home or the gym. This workout, which can be done on the treadmill or elliptical, combines walking and running with short calorie-burning intervals.
This workout alternates 1 minute at a low, steady pace (Rate of Perceived Exertion [RPE] 5) with 1-minute faster-paced intervals. This quick, effective workout will give your metabolism a boost and burn more than 350 calories.
Strength
When it comes to strength training, it’s important for beginners to focus on a handful of basic moves that target each major muscle group. With consistent practice, these exercises should start to feel easier over time—that’s a good sign that you’re getting stronger. Beginners can then begin progressing by introducing advanced variations, heavier weights or higher reps on each exercise.
The CDC recommends including at least two days of resistance training per week, targeting each of the body’s major muscle groups. Choose a number of repetitions (reps) for each exercise that will fatigue your muscles by the time you complete a set—that’s a good indication that you are working them to maximum capacity.
Whether you want to build lean muscle or simply strengthen your frame, you can make significant gains in both goals with the right workout routine. Vary your routine every four to eight weeks to keep your muscles guessing and prevent boredom.
The goal is to get strength training to be as ingrained in your routine as brushing your teeth or showering. This will help you maintain consistency and, over time, make regular exercise a habit. Eventually, you’ll find yourself looking forward to your gym or weight room visit. Just don’t forget to set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound) goals so you can celebrate your victories along the way.
Flexibility
Most exercisers spend a lot of time doing cardiovascular activities to improve endurance and burn calories, and weight-training exercises to build muscle. But flexibility training is often overlooked, and can be just as important for fitness. Everyday tasks like bending over to tie your shoe, walking up the stairs or reaching something on a high shelf become more challenging without good flexibility. Flexibility can also help prevent injury and decrease pain caused by tight muscles.
There are three components of flexibility: structure, function and technique. Structure refers to the actual range of motion of muscles and joints, such as how long your legs can go down when you squat. Function refers to the ability to move through that range of motion smoothly, while technique is your body positioning and alignment. Incorporate yoga or Pilates into your workouts to work on improving your flexibility and coordination.
It is recommended to perform static (holding a stretch) and dynamic stretches before and after your workouts. Dynamic stretching is performed through movements during the warm-up to get your muscles warmed up and ready for activity, while static stretches are held for 15 to 30 seconds. Adding a few minutes of flexibility exercises each day can make a big difference. Try to focus on major muscle groups such as your calves, thighs, hips, back and shoulders.
Interval Training
Interval training alternates short periods of high-intensity activity with lower-intensity activity during a single workout. These intervals, which can be done with any form of exercise, including running, swimming, cycling and weight training, cause your body to use both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, resulting in greater total calories burned compared to continuous long distance training. This training also increases Excess Post Oxygen Consumption, or EPOC – the calories that are burned even after your workout is over.
The goal of interval training is to push yourself as hard as you can for short bursts of time, followed by longer, slower recovery times. For example, when you run an interval session, warm up at an easy pace for five minutes. Increase your speed to seventy percent of your maximum capacity for a lung-busting, leg-exploding minute. Slow down to your normal tempo for two minutes. Repeat this pattern for a few more intervals.
More advanced interval training programs are designed specifically for athletes based on the results of anaerobic threshold (AT) testing, which includes measuring blood lactate during intense exercise. Less formal interval training is beneficial to average, non-competitive exercisers as well.
When you do an interval training workout, be sure to follow it with a low-intensity cool down period, such as a slow jog or walk and static stretches, to return your body to resting state. This will help prevent muscle soreness and reduce the risk of injury.
