Effective exercise includes frequency, intensity, time and type, or FITT, to meet your goals. Manipulating these different factors will increase the effectiveness of your workouts to improve your health and fitness while also increasing your quality of life.
Frequency
Frequency refers to how often you exercise on a weekly basis. Exercising on most days of the week will help improve your health and fitness. In general, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercise a minimum of three days per week for moderate improvements in your health and fitness. To see significant changes, increase the frequency of your workouts so that you are exercising five to seven days per week.
Intensity
Intensity is critical to the effectiveness of your exercise program. Intensity is how hard you exercise, or the amount of energy it takes to perform an activity, according to Fitness-Facts. Keep your intensity moderate to high during all workouts for the most benefit to your body. Many people do not like to push themselves and often exercise at a low-to-moderate intensity. While this is acceptable if you are new to exercise or have an ongoing medical condition, increasing the intensity of your workouts also increases the effectiveness.
Time
Time is the duration of your workouts. Get at least 30 minutes at each workout or up to 60 for increased benefits and results. Starting with as little as 10-minute bouts of exercise three times a day can yield improvements in your health, as well as burns calories, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Build up the duration of your workouts slowly to avoid injury or over-training. You can start with as little as 10 minutes and build up.
Type
Type of exercise is also important. You need cardio, strength training and stretching exercises for the most well-rounded exercise routine. Cardio should be done five to seven days per week at the recommended intensity and duration. Strength training, or weight-bearing exercise should be performed two to three times per week on non-consecutive days. They can be incorporated into the same hour as your cardio workouts or separately. Stretch two to three times per week minimum, or after every workout to maintain/improve flexibility and range of motion.
References
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2010
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; National Strength and Conditioning Association; 2008
- Fitness-Facts: Principles of Exercise
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