exercise intensity

Hello! Hope you all are having a wonderful week! We are a little late on the Tip of the Week, but better late than never. This Tip is brought to you by Leah Menya… Has someone ever told you, you need to push yourself harder or you are not working out as hard as you really could? Or why don’t you sweat when you work out? Trust me, when you are married to a personal trainer, you have heard these things! HA! All these questions surround the concept of “exercise intensity”. You may have heard people talk about this, but how do you measure it? As a general rule, moderate-intensity exercise is best. If you exercise too lightly, you may not meet your fitness or weight-loss goals. If you push yourself too hard, you may increase your risk of soreness, injury or even burnout. Moderate-intensity exercise is what we should aim for. These are some signs of it: - You're breathing faster. - You're developing a light sweat. - You're feeling some strain in your muscles. You can also use the talk test. This one always cracks me up! If you can carry on a conversation of brief sentences but you can't sing a song, you're probably exercising in the recommended moderate-intensity range. So if you start breaking out and singing your favorite song, tell Stephen just to understand. : ) If you'd rather get more specific, use your heart rate to measure your exercise intensity. Here's how to calculate your target heart rate: - Subtract your age from 220. This is your maximum heart rate - Determine the low end of your target heart rate by multiplying your maximum heart rate by 0.6 - Determine the upper end of your target heart rate by multiplying your maximum heart rate by 0.85 While exercising, check your pulse and use this information! When you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of beats in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 to get your heart rate per minute. If your heart rate is within the range you calculated above, you're exercising at about the right level. If your heart rate is too low, pick up the pace. If your heart rate is too high, back off a bit. So next time you are working out, try these tips. You will find that if you truly KNOW you are working at YOUR moderate intensity, the rewards from your workout will increase. And that my friends is your TIP of the WEEK… P.S. If you have not stopped by Lions Gym lately, please do. We are now painting the walls some fabulous colors! See you at the gym! - - - - - Stephen & Leah Menya www.lionsgym.com 952-474-7000 Download this as a file