How Long For Aerobic Exercise For A 45 Year Old?

When it comes to aerobic exercise for 45-year-olds, you can rightly ask: "What's age got to do with it?" According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults between ages 18 and 64 need at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise five days a week, or two and a half hours per week. However, increasing the amount of aerobic exercise you do will bring even bigger health benefits.

Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise boosts cardiovascular health, helping to protect you from conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, which are more likely to develop when you're older than 40. It also helps you maintain or lose weight, fight stress and depression and increases longevity. Regular exercise can help you feel more youthful, shaving approximately eight years off your age if you're a man and about nine years if you're a woman, according to Michael F. Roizen, author of "The RealAge Makeover" and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

Amount and Intensity

If you're exercising at a vigorous intensity, just 15 minutes a day or 75 minutes a week can help to boost cardiovascular health and maintain your weight. However, you'll get more health benefits if you exercise at a moderate pace, such as brisk walking, for 300 minutes each week, or do vigorous intensity exercise for 150 minutes weekly, notes the CDC.

Best Types of Aerobic Exercise

If you're in good health, you can do a wide range of low-impact and high-impact aerobic exercises. However, conditions such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis can strike around age 45, so low-impact exercises such as walking, hiking, cycling, swimming and ballroom dancing may be more suitable. A medical check-up can clarify your health status and better enable you to create the best aerobic exercise routine for you.

Precautions

When doing aerobic exercises, try to stay within your target heart range, which is 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, according to the American Heart Association. To determine your target heart range, subtract your age from 220. Wear a target heart rate monitor to make sure you're within the right range. Also, if you're not used to exercising or have a medical condition, consult your doctor before starting an aerobic exercise program. Once you're given the green light, start slowly and increase the duration and pace of your sessions gradually. For instance, start with just 10 to 15 minutes, and work your way up to 30 minutes over a period of a few weeks. Or, break your workouts into three 10-minute bouts each day if it's more manageable.