Your body is an amazing machine. Even more so when it’s tuned. Here are some ways to vary your workout, because your body adapts quickly to the same-old same-old. And doing exercises correctly means your workout is far more efficient.
How much exercise should I do?
In addition to the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine’s recommendation of 60 minutes of daily exercise to prevent weight gain, there are two other suggestions for how much physical activity you need:
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends a five- to 10-minute warm-up and then 30 to 45 minutes of continuous aerobic activity (such as swimming, biking, walking, dancing, or jogging) three to five times a week, with a stretch and cool down period in the last five to 10 minutes. The ACSM also recommends weight training: at least one set (eight to 12 repetitions) each of eight to 10 different exercises, targeting the body's major muscle groups.
The U.S. Surgeon General recommends accumulating 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (hard enough to leave you feeling "warm and slightly out of breath") on most, if not all, days of the week. You can do it in two bouts of 15 minutes, three bouts of 10 minutes, or one bout of 30 minutes. This recommendation emphasizes incorporating activity into your daily life – walking instead of taking the bus, parking your car farther from the mall and walking across the parking lot, taking stairs instead of the elevator, even washing your car by hand.
