Exercise is a key part of staying healthy. It keeps us well in many respects, including our mental and physical nature. We tend to exercise based on our fitness goals, i.e. weight loss, or muscle gain, but there’s actually a set amount of exercise that should be done so that we stay active for our body’s sake. According to Harvard, people exercise for one of five reasons actually. Either for work, health, recreation, competition, or their appearance. We took a look at some peer-reviewed studies that calculate what is needed for optimal health. How much exercise do we need for this reason? Keep reading for more.
How Much Exercise Do We Need To Maintain Optimal Health?
Exercise is actually the best way to prevent disease, injury, and more. It’s essentially preventative medicine! Regardless of our body type and age, we all need to exercise to protect ourselves from diseases that affect the human race. Heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, and more are all prevented in some way or the other by exercise. How much exercise do we need to maintain good health? It’s easier than you might think. According to Harvard Health, it all depends on “isotonic exercise or activities that use large muscle groups in a rhythmic, repetitive fashion”. You need to be able to boost your heart rate to 70% or 85% or your maximum capability.
To get the amount of exercise you need on a daily basis, doctors recommend that you do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise or 15 minutes of intense exercise per day. Very minimal, but you reap benefits for the long term. A short walk, a tiny amount of HIIT, or even taking your dog all count as the minimal amount of exercise needed. Now again, this is to maintain health, not for weight loss or muscle gain. If you want to exercise more, you can start to change the way your body looks and feels, intakes food (more food for more muscle, yay!), and more.
Do You Get Enough Exercise?
Harvard scientists coined the term “cardiometabolic exercise” or CME to describe a range of activities. These exercises will improve your heart, metabolism, and health. This all and all leads to less stress, better digestion, mental clarity, and more. They aim, that on their system, 150 points is the key to getting the perfect amount of exercise. See below to track how much exercise you get and if it’s enough to maintain your health!
- Carpentry (100 CME points): 30 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Mowing the lawn (200 CME points): 30 minutes at least, intense
- Raking lawn (130 CME points): 30 minutes at least, moderate
- Sexual activity (25 CME points): 15 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Stair climbing (100 CME points): 10 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Aerobic dance (200 CME points): 30 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Biking (200 CME points): 25 minutes at least, intense exercise
- Swimming (230 CME points): 30 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Walking (130 CME points): 30 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Yoga (130 CME points): 30 minutes at least, moderate exercise
- Jumping rope (200 CME points): 15 minutes at least, intense exercise
