The Fit Blog

To walk or run – a question that many people, getting into exercising ask themselves. Generally, it is well known that any kind of exercise is better than sitting on the couch, playing video games. It’s obvious. But what isn’t so obvious is whether moderate or viorous exercise is better.

In order to attempt to get the public engaged in daily activity, many governments have programs and guidelines. Unfortunately while a bit of government intervention is good, getting the proper advice is often better.

A recent study by Exeter and Brunel universities in Britan found that 56% of men and 71% of women currently believe that moderate activity is best when it comes to staying physicaly healthy. Activities such as walking have become the cup du jour for many Britains. This is likely due to the British government’s promotion of 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week which includes activities such as housework and gardening.

Unfortunately, moderate levels of activity only work moderately well. Dr. Gary O’Donovan, the study’s main author says that

“time and time again, the largest and most robust studies have shown that vigorously active individuals live longer and enjoy a better quality of life than moderately active individuals and couch potatoes.”

Brisk walking is definitely a popular activity these days. Whenever driving somewhere in town, I never fail to count at least a couple of people walking, spandex on and water bottles in hand. In fact, I’ve also seen some bodybuilding websites suggest that long bouts of moderately paced walking to be good for muscle building. But to me, this is somewhat counter intuitive.

I’m of the mindset that the more physically or cardiovascularly challenging an exercise, the better it is for you. While I believe that walking is certainly better than nothing, more vigorous activity should definitely also be on the menu. Here are a couple of exercises to add to your workour regime in order to accomodate some more vigor.

• Join a spinning class. Spinning is similar to stationary cycling but usually done in a class with a high intensity and an instructor taking you through some nice intervals. Many gyms offer spinning classes for no additional cost. The beginner classes are a great way to get a little more sweat on.
• Running. You may hate running or have trouble doing it, but it’s probably the least expensive, most accomodating method of getting in shape. Even a moderately paced run will increase your heart rate significantly over a brisk walk. Most running stores (the Running Room, for example) will host classes for beginners to advanced runners. If running is something new to you, finding a beginner class is a fantastic way to get into it.
• Hit the weights. While many people believe that weight training is either not a vigorous method of exercise or that it is strictly for bodybuilders, lifting weights is actually a great workout with the ability to scale intensity to all levels. Working out in a circuit, in fact, may not only be vigorous activity but may also contribute to weight loss and muscle building post-workout, while resting.
• Body weight exercising is also an inexpensive but versatile method of getting your vigorous exercises in. Again, focus on a circuit style workout consisting of things like air squats, pushups, situps, calf raises, dips or pullups and others and you will find yourself sweating buckets and getting your heart rate up nicely.

But always remember to scale your exercising accordingly. If you’re new to vigorous exercising, maybe talk to your doctor first and possibly start off slowly at either a more moderate pace or with less weight.

In: exercise | | #