To gain health benefits, you need to do muscle-strengthening activities to the point where it’s hard for you to do another repetition without help. Muscle-strengthening activities should be done in addition to your aerobic activity. Activities should work all the major muscle groups of your body-legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms. Physical activities to strengthen your muscles are recommended at least 2 days a week. Want more tips on how you can add a variety of activities to your life? Check this out. Learn more about additional types of physical activity that are right for you. You need to feel comfortable doing moderate-intensity activities before you move on to more vigorous ones. If you have a history of a chronic disease, consider telling your doctor you are planning to increase your physical activity, including moving to more vigorous activity. If you haven’t been very active lately, however, increase your physical activity level slowly. Some people like to do vigorous activity because it gives them about the same health benefits in half the time.

A rule of thumb is that 1 minute of vigorous-intensity activity is about the same as 2 minutes of moderate-intensity activity. You can do moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or a mix of the two, each week. Learn more about getting started with physical activity to improve health. If you want to do more vigorous-level activities, slowly replace those that take moderate effort like brisk walking with more vigorous activities like jogging. If you are doing moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking or hiking, you can talk, but not sing during the activity. Here are some examples of activities that require vigorous effort: If you’re being active at a vigorous level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. You may use the Talk Test to gauge the intensity of your aerobic physical activity. Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity means you’re breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit. Riding a bike on level ground or with few hills.Here are some examples of activities that require moderate effort: One way to tell if it’s a moderate-intensity aerobic activity is that you’ll be able to talk, but not sing the words to your favorite song. Moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity means you’re working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat.

Intensity is how hard your body is working during a physical activity. As long as you’re doing aerobic physical activities at a moderate- or vigorous-intensity, they count toward meeting the aerobic guideline. From pushing a lawn mower, to taking a dance class, to walking or biking to the store – these types of activities and more count. Aerobic activity or “cardio” gets you breathing harder and your heart beating faster.

Brisk walking meaning