To promote cardiovascular benefit for most people, about 30 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity most days of the week is a good start; the latest recommendations, however, suggest that you work your way up to 1 hour of exercise per day if you are overweight. You can accumulate the total in 10- or 15- minute sessions if you want to, but check with your doctor if you are under treat- ment for heart disease. The main point is to make exercise a regular part of your lifestyle. Try to burn about 1,000 to 2,000 calories per week (see page 81). To get a sense of an effective exercise pattern, you can think in terms of the so-called FIT formula: frequency (days per week); inten- sity (how hard—moderate or vigorous) or percentage of heart rate; and time (amount of time in each session or day). You can adjust these elements to suit your schedule, just as long as you expend enough energy to accomplish your ?tness goals. For instance, you can make a point of taking a longer walk three times a week and a shorter jog two times a week.
Frequency of exercise sessions and time spent in each session are easy to understand, even if it seems hard to ?nd the time to exercise.
If you cannot exercise every day, try to plan your sessions on noncon- secutive days of the week. If you are breaking up your time into shorter sessions, don’t forget to warm up and cool down brie?y for each session. If your activity is more vigorous, the cool-downs and warm-ups are especially important.
Intensity can be as simple as identifying moderate-level activities that ?t most naturally into your lifestyle, and then consciously sticking with them. A moderate activity raises your heart rate to at least 50 percent of its maximum (see box on page 78). A more practical de?nition of cardiovascular exercise might be any activity that raises your heartbeat to a level where you can still talk, but you start to sweat a little and breathe more heavily. If you have heart disease and your exercise is being planned with medical supervision, your peak heart rate achieved during exercise stress testing is a safe goal. But ask your doctor about this.
Examples of moderately active pastimes are:
• Brisk walking (3 to 4 mph)
• Gardening or yard work
• Active housework, such as vacuuming
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Golf, if you don’t use a cart
• Dancing
More physically demanding forms of exercise, done regularly, raise your heart rate to 50 to 85 percent of the maximum and are especially bene?cial:
• Aerobics classes
• Jogging or running
• Bicycling
• Games such as racquetball or basketball
• Cross-country skiing
• Handball