Your perfect exercise mix is here!
The perfect mix for you is the mix you can maintain for the rest of your life and ideally that will be or, pat on the back if this is the case what you’re already doing:
150 mins moderate intensity exercise + 2x weight bearing + balance + flexibility weekly
Moderate intensity exercise means you get out of breath in a good way! When you move, your body needs
more oxygen to provide energy. So, your breathing rate increases from ~15x a minute at rest to ~ 40-60x a minute when exercising.
Keep reading as I’m not asking you to pound the streets in Lycra running gear and then hit the gym still running.
This is telling you why it’s good for you and how it is actually way easier to achieve then you might think
Your heart beats faster and circulation speeds up to take the oxygen to the muscles and keep them moving. If you don’t do it often, the feeling of being out of breath can be a bit unpleasant, but it’s not usually dangerous.
When you get out of breath more often, your heart muscles and arteries become stronger so they can send more blood round your body with each pump (to deliver more oxygen to your muscles).
A stronger heart and arteries mean you’re less likely to experience cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels.
In addition, physically fitter people have lower risks for lots of other types of health issues – certain types of cancer, for diabetes, psychiatric conditions and musculoskeletal disorders.
Basically, ANY movement you enjoy doing that gets you out of breath is the right thing for you.
Dancing like nobody’s watching? Yes
Walking 4-6km/hr, running or cycling? Absolutely
Aerobics classes, Stairmaster or Elliptical trainer? Go for it
Whichever you choose, in whatever mix, aim for a total of 150 minutes/ week (that’s 22 minutes/ day) of moderate activity; if you want to go higher, do 75 minutes of vigorous activity, the benefits are the same.
And there’s good news – they don’t even have to be 22 minutes together. Lots of research from fitness trackers has shown that getting your 22 minutes in little bursts of action throughout the day can bring you extra benefits by breaking up an otherwise sedentary day:
Quick dance while you’re drying your hair= 4 minutes
Brisk walk round the block at lunchtime = 10 mins
Quickly nipping up the shop for a pint of milk = 5 mins
And another groove to a tune of your choice while cooking = 3 mins
And DONE! If you’re doing something vigorous, you’ll sleep better if you do it earlier in the day.
Then add in your weight bearing / strength training twice a week.
Pilates can help but it would probably be more accurately described as muscular endurance training rather than muscular strength training. In my classes I often add strength based moves when we add weight or resistance bands.
That’s because the goal of Pilates is to make you fitter for the things you do every day rather than fit to lift a maximal load.
It will still help you to maintain muscle mass (meaning less risk of sarcopenia and osteopenia) and you will feel stronger, especially if you’re using the weights (hand and ankle!).
But here are some easy to do at home exercises that if done regularly enable you to build muscle mass. You can do simple lunges and squats an
d you can get dumbbells or kettle weights to work that bit harder.
While you won’t get bigger muscles from Pilates alone when it comes to balance and flexibility, lots of the exercises focus on the stabilisation of your most unstable joints (spine, hips, shoulders) and on the smaller stabilising muscles.
For example, when we are standing on one leg or in all-four kneeling with opposite arms and legs outstretched, you are using those muscles to build stability, and the extra stretch is bringing flexibility.