First, know that it's okay to exercise every day. While it's fine to take a day off here and there to recover from hard workouts, a well-rounded exercise routine need not include built-in rest days. As modern conveniences and technology make our lives easier, they also cause us to be less active. This makes regular exercise more important than ever. Experts recommend a good foundation of aerobic exercise combined with some resistance training.
Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge, authors of "Younger Next Year," recommend a minimum of one hour of vigorous exercise at least six out of seven days each week. Their advice is to make aerobic exercise the foundation of your program, but to also include two sessions of resistance training each week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for minimum levels of exercise are somewhat less ambitious at 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week and muscle-strengthening exercises that include all major muscle groups twice a week. For "even greater health benefits," the CDC recommends doubling the aerobic activities to 300 minutes per week. This puts them on par with the recommendations of Crowley and Lodge.
Any activity that causes your heart to beat faster and makes you breathe harder can qualify as aerobic exercise. Look for an activity that you can sustain for at least 30 minutes without taking a break. Brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or your favorite cardio class will work. As a rule of thumb, you should be able to talk in short sentences while in aerobic mode. If you can't, you're probably pushing too hard. If you're easily able to carry on a long conversation while exercising, you should increase your intensity. Try for 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise five days per week.
Weight training is the most conventional type of resistance exercise, but you can accomplish effective resistance training using your body weight alone. Pushups, pullups and situps are good examples of body-weight resistance exercises. The important thing is to hit all of the major muscle groups. For the lower body, try squats and lunge variations. For the upper body, include a balance of pushing and pulling motions to engage the chest, back and arms. Incorporate at least two sessions of resistance exercises every week.
When to Rest
If you are extremely sore or tired after a hard workout, take a day off to recover. You should also rest when you have a fever or other sign of illness. If you are overtraining, you might need to incorporate recovery days into your schedule. One way to determine if you are overtraining is to keep track of your pulse rate before you get out of bed each morning. If your fitness is improving, your resting pulse rate should be declining. If your pulse rate starts to speed up, you might need to factor in more rest and recovery.
- Younger Next Year; Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D.
- CDC: Guidelines for Physical Activity
- George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images