May 14, 2003
In trying
to make sense of contradictory fitness headlines, experts
say,
it’s important to
realize that exercise studies may reach opposing conclusions
because they involve
different age groups or sexes, people with different risk
factors (some may already be at risk for heart disease, some
may be overweight) or those with vastly different fitness
levels to begin with.
So it’s not always possible to
make direct comparisons from one study to the next. Findings
that hold true for sedentary women in their golden years,
for instance, may have little bearing on active college men.
And researchers do not all agree on how
to interpret study findings and translate them into general
recommendations for the public. Should the focus should be
on minimum exercise requirements, so people aren’t
discouraged before they ever start, or on higher, more intense
levels of activity that may offer greater benefit?
The bottom line is that no one knows
the “ideal” amount of exercise. And one-size-fits-all
exercise recommendations may not fit you. The perfect exercise
prescription is likely to vary to some extent from one individual
to the next, experts say, because of such factors as your
age, health status and, importantly, your ultimate fitness
goal.
WHAT’S YOUR GOAL?
The “right” amount of exercise
for you can depend greatly on what you’re hoping exercise
will accomplish. Someone who is overweight and trying to
shed pounds, for example, will probably have to exercise
more than a thin person whose aim is to maintain good health,
but less than someone in marathon training. Consider the
follow goals:
Staying healthy. If avoiding heart problems, diabetes and
other diseases down the line is your main concern, health
professionals say there is substantial
research backing the advice in the 1996 Surgeon General’s report to strive
for at least half an hour a day of moderate physical activity on most days.
Examples of moderate activity include brisk walking, swimming,
raking leaves and even housework — as long as it’s somewhat intense,
like scrubbing floors. You can break up the activity into three, 10-minute sessions
if you like.
“Thirty minutes a day of moderate activity has a very
significant health benefit,” says Catherine Jackson, professor and chair
of the department of kinesiology at the California State University in Fresno
and a spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine.
Getting
started
•
See a doctor • Start
slowly •
Pick activities you like • Use correct form
If the millions of sedentary Americans would engage in an active lifestyle, experts
say, they could make substantial improvements in their health. But before you
embark on a fitness program, heed the following advice.
See
a doctor
Consult your physician for
a check-up to make sure you don't have any health conditions,
such as high blood pressure or asthma, which could
make exercising
hazardous. Your doctor may recommend a beginning exercise plan based
on your age and health status.
Start
slowly
Begin
with a comfortable level of activity – even
if it's just 5 minutes per session – and gradually build
up your endurance. You should never be in pain or unable to speak
comfortably
during
physical activity.
Walking, biking, swimming and other low-impact exercises are often
recommended
for beginners,
overweight individuals, older people and those with arthritis and
certain other health conditions.
Pick
activities you like
Enjoying exercise boosts the
odds that you'll stick with it.
Use
correct form
It's a good idea for beginners
to consult an experienced, credentialed personal trainer
who can demonstrate proper
techniques for cardiovascular
and weight-training
machines and suggest a safe workout plan.
Sources: American College of Sports Medicine; American Council on Exercise
But that’s not to say that longer or more intense activity
isn’t beneficial. It is, according to the Surgeon General’s report
and other guidelines.
“That message gets lost,” says fitness researcher
I-Min Lee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Most
of the time we’re trying to get people just to the first level.”
Lee recommends that people aim for that first level — 30
minutes of moderate activity a day — and then ratchet things up if they
can. “Once you’re comfortable at that level, see if you can build
it up to an hour,” she says. Another way to get a more challenging
workout is to increase the intensity by walking faster or jogging.
Dr. Richard Stein, chief of cardiology at the Brooklyn Hospital
Center in New York and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, agrees
that people can get substantial heart benefit from half an hour of moderate activity — and
that additional exercise may confer extra benefit.
“Most of the studies have shown that the more exercise
you do, the better you are,” he says.
Recommendations issued last fall by the Institute of Medicine,
an independent group that advises the government, urged at least an hour of moderate
exercise a day for optimal health. But other experts have expressed concern that
raising the bar so high may discourage sedentary people from ever exercising
at all and give them the idea that lesser amounts of activity are a waste of
time — which is not true.
Losing weight
If you’re like millions of Americans who are trying to shed
excess pounds or prevent more from piling on, you may find that half an hour
a day of moderate activity simply won’t work – at least not as
effectively as you might like. This was another factor behind the IOM recommendation
of an
hour of exercise a day.
“If you’re trying to avoid weight gain, you’re
probably going to need more exercise than if you’re trying to prevent heart
disease,” Lee says.
Of course, we all know people who seem to eat whatever they
want and never gain an ounce while others struggle continually to control
their weight. As a result, some people will need to work much harder at losing
weight
than others.
To shed the extra pounds, it’s necessary to tap into
the body’s stored fuel source — fat — by eating less and exercising
more. How much less you need to eat and how much more you need to exercise — how
long and at what intensity — will depend on various factors, including
your current weight, diet and metabolism.
Looking like a swimsuit model
First off, realize that this may be an unreasonable,
unattainable goal. Models and others with seemingly perfect bodies have
genes that helped determine their coveted shape, and they may spend hours
a day
working out with professional trainers and severely limiting what they
eat. What’s
more, their cellulite can be airbrushed away.
That said, if you’re aiming for a buffer bod — the
kind that is only attainable with hard work — you probably won’t
be surprised to hear that gardening and housework aren’t likely to
do much to help you achieve that goal.
How much aerobic exercise you need to burn fat and
look fitter will depend on your metabolism, weight, diet and just how toned
you want to be.
And weight training is key to developing that “sculpted” look.
It also helps build strong bones and keep us functioning independently into
old age. Experts recommend that most Americans strength train two to three
days a
week.
EVERY BIT COUNTS
Above all, the key point to keep in mind is that there is
a wealth of research to date showing that exercise is good for us, and that
the benefits are cumulative.
So if you can’t fit in as much physical activity as
you would like on a given day, it’s still worthwhile to get some exercise,
even if that means just taking the stairs a couple of times or going for
a short, brisk walk.
Hard-core fitness enthusiasts and athletes can overdo it,
training too hard and experiencing injuries, exhaustion and other complications
as a result.
But the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population is at
risk for the myriad diseases that can result from exercising far too little.
About two-thirds of adults are not regularly active and a quarter get no
exercise at all, statistics show.
“Any exercise is better than none,” Lee says.
Jacqueline
Stenson is a health and fitness freelance
writer in Los Angeles.
