The intensity in which you exercise is a critical part of losing/maintaining your weight, improving your cardiovascular health and increasing your muscle tone. You don’t want to over-train your body and, at the same time, you need to be sure you’re exercising at a high enough intensity to get the results you seek.
Exercise Recommendation
Adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderately-intense aerobic exercise per week. In addition, the CDC recommends two strength-training workouts per week to help improve muscle tone and bone health. The CDC also points out that a 15-minute workout completed at a vigorous pace provides the same health benefits as a workout done at a moderate pace for 30 minutes. So, if you’re strapped for time, and you are physically fit enough to exercise at a vigorous pace, it’s a time-efficient and effective way to exercise.
Low-Intensity
Low-intensity exercise is ideal for severely-obese individuals, sedentary people or those who may be rehabilitating an injury. Low-intensity exercise causes no noticeable changes in your breathing pattern or excessive sweating, and you can easily hold a conversation during the workout without gasping for breath. Some examples of light-intensity exercise include walking at 2 to 3 mph, light resistance-band training or therapy and low-impact water aerobics.
Moderate Exercise
Moderately-intense exercise is what the CDC suggests as the minimum standard for both healthy children and adults. Exercises that fall within this category include walking at a brisk pace, jogging, swimming laps, inline skating, light weightlifting and cycling. Moderate exercise will speed up your breathing and cause you to sweat within about 10 minutes. During a moderate-intensity workout, you should still be able to carry on a conversation, but may have to catch your breath every so often.
Vigorous
Vigorous exercise is the most challenging way to exercise, but it also burns the most calories and offers the greatest potential in terms of burning calories, increasing lung capacity and losing weight. During a vigorous workout, your breathing rate is rapid and deep, you sweat after a few minutes of starting your workout and you can’t hold a conversation with someone without gasping for breath every few words.
Be careful not to exceed your maximum heart rate -- 220 minus your age in years -- during a vigorous workout; this can lead to symptoms of over-training like dizziness and nausea. A few of the more effective vigorous-intensity workouts include high-intensity interval training (HIIT), sprints, high-intensity cycling and circuit training.
