Are You Getting Enough Exercise?
It is now scientifically proven that regular exercise helps
maintain better physical and psychological health both for
people already in good health and those with a health problem.
However, to be beneficial, exercise must attain a certain level
and must be done regularly.
What is a cardiovascular exercise?
Recommendations for those 18-65 years old
Examples: brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, cross-country
skiing, skating...
To maintain or improve your health, you should do a minimum
of:
What is strength training?
7 X 60 minutes / week of low intensity exercise
or
7 X 30 minutes / week of moderate intensity exercise
or
4 X 30 minutes / week of high intensity exercise
You should vary your physical activities by including:
Cardiovascular exercises (4-7 X / week)
Strength training (2-4 X / week)
Stretching exercises (4-7 X / week)
Recommendations for those older than 65 years
To maintain or improve your health and to counter loss of muscle
mass, loss of flexibility and risk of falls due to ageing, you should
as a minimum:
Exercise for 7 X 30-60 minutes / week at low to moderate intensity
You should vary your physical activities by including:
If I receive this document, it is because:
• I exercise less than 4 times a week
• I want to be informed about actual recommendations on physical activity in order to gain optimal benefits for my health
Cardiovascular exercises (4-7 X / week)
Strength training (2-4 X / week)
Balance exercises (2-4 X / week)
Stretching exercises (4-7 X / week)
This is exercise involving the large muscle groups which
engages significantly your lungs, blood vessels and your
heart. Thus, it leads to sweating, shortness of breath and
faster heart beats.
This is normally made of 8 to 10 exercises involving the
body’s main large muscle groups. These exercises require
that the muscle contracts against a resistance such as a
dumbbell, a training rubber band, water resistance, body
weight against gravity, etc. To obtain health benefits, 2 to 3
series of 10 to 15 repetitions of each exercise are enough.
Examples: lifting dumbbells, push-ups, practicing Pilates...
What is balance exercise?
This is an exercise in which we place the body in a hard
to maintain posture, without falling. However, it is important
that the degree of difficulty be attainable without risk of
injury, but it should not be too easy. Greater difficulty can be
introduced by reducing ground supports, closing the eyes,
bringing the feet closer together, etc.
Examples: standing on one leg, doing arabesque, yoga...
What is a stretching exercise?
Unlike body building in which there are contractions,
stretching is an exercise where we relax the muscle to
lengthen it slowly, painlessly. To improve flexibility, duration
of the stretching exercises must be at least 30 seconds
each time, without rapid movements.
Examples: yoga, stretching...
Are You Getting Enough Exercise?
Tool # 22
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If you do only one of these exercises each week,
here is what you will need to do in order to attain
recommended amounts of exercise:
Are You Getting Enough Exercise?
Walking/Jogging:
5h of moderate walking (~ 4 km/h)
3h of brisk walking (~ 6.4 km/h)
2h of hiking in the mountains
1.5h of jogging (~ 9km/h)
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Recommended amounts of exercise
to improve your cardiovascular health:
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
FREQUENCY
INTENSITY
LOW
5-7 X / week
HR~ 60 % HRmax
60 min.
Perception *= 1-2 / 10 (5 to 7 h / week)
No shortness of breath
Normal walking
(< 4 km / h)
Gardening
Bowling
MODERATE
5-7 X / week
HR ~ 70 % HRmax
20-30 min.
Perception * = 3-5 / 10 (1.5 to 2 h / week)
Low level of shortness
of breath
Brisk walking
(4-6 km/h)
Bicycling (< 20 km/h)
Tennis (doubles)
HIGH
4 X / week
HR ≥ 80 HRmax
20-30 min.
Perception * = 6-8 / 10 (1.5 à 2 h / sem.)
Pronounced shortness
of breath
Jogging (> 8 km/h)
Bicycling (> 20 km/h)
tennis (singles)
Water exercises:
3.5h of aquafitness
2h of swimming laps at a moderate pace
Bicycling:
2.5h of bicycling (< 19 km/h)
1.5h of bicycling (22-26 km/h)
Dance:
3h of social dancing
2h of aerobics or step dancing
Sports:
3h of badminton (low effort)
2.5h of tennis (doubles)
2.5h of alpine skiing
2h of skating or rollerblading
2h of cross-country skiing (< 4 km/h)
1.5h of cross-country skiing (~ 10 km/h)
1.5h of tennis (singles)
LENGTH
EXAMPLES OF
ACTIVITIES
*According to the modified Borg’s scale
HR: Heart rate
HRmax: maximal heart rate (220-age)
Are You Getting Enough Exercise?
Concrete examples to attain
recommended amounts of exercise
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LITTLE STEPS... GO FAR
Every 10 or more consecutive minutes of exercise count. You can then accumulate 3 X 10 minutes of exercise every day to attain
recommended amounts and you will obtain the same benefits as if you do 30 consecutive minutes. However, a sequence of less than
10 minutes is not enough...
© Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal
Writing: Christine L’Abbé, MSc, Étienne Dumais-Roy, MSc, kinesiologists
Graphic Design: Hélène Lambin, PhD
Photography: Junial Enterprises - fotolia.com