How much exercise is enough?
Travis Stiegman
Physical Therapist October 2020
How much exercise is enough?
The answer is surprisingly little but it does changes depending on your goal. Are you concerned for your heart? Your lungs and their stamina? Or are you focused on losing body fat? Our physical therapist lays out a few answers from his research.
What type and how much aerobic exercise should I do for optimum heart health?
Optimizing our training or exercise to achieve fitness goals is getting easier to identify, thanks to recent research into how much exercise is necessary to yield the health and wellness benefits: referred to as Minimum Effective Dose Training.
Guidelines from 2015 American Medical Association research addressed training for maximum aerobic capacity (VO2 max). The study findings suggest performing five 4-minute high intensity (>75% HRmax) bouts with 4 minutes active rest periods in between bouts 1-2 sessions/week.
What volume of endurance training is best for overall stamina?
The same 2015 AMA study found that performing two 90+ minute sessions of low-intensity endurance exercise (walk/hike/bike/swim/row/paddle, etc) per month maintains metabolic efficiency (ability to utilize fat stores for energy after available liver glycogen is depleted) and cardiovascular stamina.
How much aerobic exercise, “cardio” do I need to do in order to lose weight?
Weight loss is about creating a calorie deficit between what you consume and what you expend. In order to lose weight with cardio you need to deduct calories based on your calorie expenditure and this can be tracked using a heart rate monitor. Take into consideration that there are 3500 calories in a pound to determine how much cardio you need to meet your goal.