Note: This post is geared to those who are not extremely knowledgeable about the mechanics or facts about exercise. If you are a seasoned athlete and train for particular sports performance, this is not for you!
Note2: If you do not exercise at all, it is important to get clearance to do so from your healthcare provider, hopefully someone who knows your health history.
Note3: This content will be focused on aerobic exercise to strengthen your heart and lung muscles. The terms aerobic and cardio will be used synonymously.
Are you a couch potato experiencing low energy, lack of motivation, or just a sedentary lifestyle? Maybe you are getting older and starting to feel the ramifications from not moving enough? This post is for YOU! 🥱
SCENARIO:
All of a sudden you start experiencing twings and twangs in your body (very technical terminology, ha!) It may happen when you get out of bed and are stiff or your joints ache. It may have started gradually and you have been ignoring it or it might come on suddenly. Maybe in your annual physical your doctor notices that your blood pressure is rising or that you are pre-diabetic. It can even be as simple as opening your refrigerator in the morning and 'OUCH' your back seizes and you can't stand up.
You have choices about how to react to these findings and feelings. You can:
ignore or decide not to change anything
be proactive and methodically take actions to prevent further problems
go overboard and start looking for miracle vitamins, treatment, homeopathies
The bottom line is that no one can escape aging but we can delay or escape the chronic conditions associated with aging. It is also important to know that you don't have to be old to experience aches and pains. I know several people much younger than me who are much older in terms of their health.
Change is hard. Inactivity is not a solution!! The couch is not your friend. I have posted about this before. You must MOVE MOVE MOVE!
It is a myth that you should rest if you have arthritis, sore muscles, or a minor injury. It is more imperative in these situations that you move those joints.
Please note: I am not including in this a broken bone, torn tendon such as a rotator cuff, or achilles rupture or a knee injury such as an ACL, MCL or meniscus tear which require intervention from a specialized healthcare provider .
Acknowledging that change is hard, I highly recommend jumping into the discomfort so you can minimize the deterioration and health issues associated with the aging process. This will help to keep the quality of your life as high as possible.
A few changes can get the ball rolling:
Start eating healthier
Stop smoking, drinking and participating in other dangerous behaviors
MOVE your body!
I know this all sounds good but it is anything but easy. However if you don't persist with these changes, you can't reap the benefits!
Remember that all of the muscles of your body need exercise to be their fittest and that includes your heart and lungs which are the focus of this post. Here is the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) (1) recommendation for aerobic exercise to achieve beneficial fitness levels. This is where you want to ultimately be.
Frequency and Intensity
"Moderate intensity aerobic exercise done at least 5 days per week or vigorous intensity exercise done 3 days per week or a weekly combination of 3-5 days a week of moderate and vigorous intensity exercise is recommended for all healthy adults. Light to moderate aerobic exercise is recommended 5 days a week for completely deconditioned adults."
Note 4: I highly recommend using a certified Personal Trainer for at least a few sessions if you are just getting started. It will be well worth the cost. If you learn how to train properly you have a higher chance of being successful and avoiding injury. Plus, having someone to support your efforts to whom you are accountable is a great way to stick to it!!!
Here is an example.
Scenario: 50 year old deconditioned female.
An estimate of this woman's max heart rate is 220-age (you can estimate yours by taking 220-your age) so in this case her max heart rate is 170. Your maximum heart rate is the upper limit of what your heart and blood vessels (your cardiovascular system), can handle during physical activity. Maximum heart rate varies with many factors; age, gender, current fitness level, medications, medical conditions, and others.
If she exercises to her max heart rate she would not be able to sustain it for long. Her goal should be 60-80% of her max. For steady state or continuous aerobic exercise, she would want to get her heart rate to 102 - 136 and maintain it for a minimum of 20-30 continuous minutes.
The easiest way to measure this is by using a fitness tracker (could be an Apple or Google watch, a fitbit or other devices.) If you do not have one and cannot access one you can use Rate of Perceived Exertion or RPE (2). Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) refers to how hard you think you’re pushing yourself during exercise. It’s subjective, which means that you decide how hard you feel you’re working during physical activity.This is an arbitrarily assigned scale, for example from 6-20 (20 being the hardest). Our test woman should work at a level between 9-11. You can also use the talk test - it is a subjective measure of your ability to have a conversation while exercising or to measure how hard you are breathing. The harder it is to have a conversation the harder you are working. To be in a continuous aerobic exercise cycle, you should be able to carry on a conversation with some difficulty. You will be winded but not to the extent that talking is impossible.
Our deconditioned 50 year old female may not be able to achieve this goal immediately. She might need to build up to this. She could start by doing only 10 minutes of an exercise that causes her to be slightly out of breath but attainable. As soon as she adapts to the 10 minute bout of aerobic activity she would increase the distance and/or intensity. This progression continues until she reaches her fitness goal. That goal might be 30 minutes of continuous moderate intensity cardio where her heart rate stays at 120-130 throughout the session.
So, what would be next? There is a common saying used by many personal trainers, including myself. Challenge your body to change your body. If you get too comfortable in your exercise routines, your fitness will level even out and you will not continue to see beneficial gains. The body wants to be confused (crazy bodies!!!) It is critical to push to higher levels or modify your program every 3-6 months. I will talk more about this later.
You must be honest with yourself during this journey. Don't exaggerate your progress or under value your accomplishments. You are only hurting yourself. You will have ups and downs along the way. The key is not to quit when you are going through a tough patch. Don't be too proud to ask for advice or help along the way. Communicate with your advocate.
REMINDER:
Components of every training session should include:
Active warm up/stretch (5-10 min of light intensity exercise where you are moving all of the joints and muscles in your body)
Your actual exercise session
Cool Down - getting your heart rate under 100
Static stretching for 5-10 minutes
Once again assuming you are at the beginning of your fitness journey here are some tips:
Pick a cardio exercise that works the large muscles in your body such as your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and always work your core.
Get your arms involved - the more you move your arms, especially above your heart, the greater the benefit of the exercise(s) you are doing.
Pick an activity you enjoy so it feels less like work. Do you like to dance, do group classes, walk/run, ride a bike, play tennis, pickleball or squash, golf (if you walk the course)? You are more likely to stay engaged if you are enjoying the activity.
If you are the type of person that is gung-ho to get started but then when it gets tedious or hard, you quit - you should seriously consider working out with one or more people who will hold you accountable like family, friends, or a trainer.
Pair up with a partner - schedule regular "exercise dates", join a yoga, walking, biking, or running club.
Hire a personal trainer to guide you for a few months.
Here are 2 examples of a beginner program.
Example one:
Warm up for 5 -10 minutes by walking wherever is convenient while also doing arm circles forward and backward as well as leg circles forward and back. Make them big to activate the hip joint. Complete 5 mini-squats and 3 pushups. Perform a Good Morning 5 times.(3) See References. You will know you are ready to begin your main exercise activity when your heart rate is rising and you are feeling warmer.
Take a brisk walk or slow jog ( aim for a 15 minute mile). Per the above, if this is too hard initially, start at a pace you can manage but still feel like you are pushing your own boundaries. If you love nature, go for a hike. Keep going for 20-45 minutes if possible. Start at 5-10 minutes if you are completely deconditioned.
Cool down - repeat your warm up activities until your heart rate falls below 100. The faster your heart rate recovers the more fit you are. Do not lower your head below your heart or lie down until your heart is below 100.
Stretch statically - perform stretching exercises for all of muscles that you worked. Don't minimize the importance of these. Stretching should take 5-10 minutes. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds. (3).
Example two:
Perform #1 from example 1.
Search youtube for an exercise video that is recommended or highly rated. I am listing a few that I feel are solid in their knowledge and expertise and offer some great classes (6). However I am not endorsing any particular program or person. You have to find someone you like. Look at boxing, dance, classic aerobics, zumba etc. classes based on your interests or be brave and try something new. There is an endless variety to choose from (6).
We all know we should be doing this on a daily basis but who really wants to? We are all so busy that taking a chunk out of your day to sweat, breathe hard, and become exhausted does not sound like fun. On the other hand, it should feel good to sweat and know you are performing an important function for your health. What feels better than that? For that matter, what is more important than that? Bottom line - exercise has to be prioritized above some competing activities. Everyone has time if they prioritize exercise. What could be more important than your health?
Being honest, I would have to say that, for me, exercise is more an addiction than sport. I have many other things I could be doing during my work-out time. It's definitely like a drug for me. At least it's a healthy one. I didn't always feel this way. It took time and discipline to get there. I didn't start exercising until I was 28 and it started with walking around the block with a friend. Now if I go 2 days without substantial activity I feel like a slug🐌.
I mentioned earlier that you must challenge your body to change your body. You need to change your program after a period of 3-6 months. Your body will adapt to any program even if you have reached your goals. It is saying " ok, yawn yawn, I got this, No Sweat, ha!" You need to answer back " Not so fast, body. I'll show you". This means changing up your workouts. If you have been walking or dancing, switch it up to include an equipment-based workout, like biking, or stair climbing. You might need to belong to a gym or purchase an exercise bike. If you don't have stairs in your home, do you have a place to go where there are steps?
I guarantee that as a beginner, you will feel quite winded after walking the steps for 5 minutes (yes, you go up and down the steps, but try going down quickly). Whenever you have an opportunity to choose between an escalator/elevator or stairs ALWAYS choose the stairs.
During one of my career jobs I had to commute to the city. I took the train. From my final destination there were 3 long flights of stairs to reach ground level. I was huffing and puffing when I got to the top. I never stopped even though it was uncomfortable. Really, most of us can do things when we know there is a end in site.
KEEP GOING- YOUR BODY WILL THANK YOU!!!!
REFERENCES
ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, Ninth Edition, Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/17450-rated-perceived-exertion-rpe-scale
https://www.medicinenet.com/target_heart_rate_zone_and_chart/article.htm
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2QFYwKET5xw for a demo of the Good Morning exercise.
https://www.fitnesswithpj.com/, https://www.angiefitness.tv/, hasfit.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0c-4nZjIWQ (teambodyproject.com)
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