Vigorous exercise

People do not need a lot of equipment for cardiovascular exercise. Instead, they can take part at home by working their own body weight. The The following exercises allow a person to perform cardio almost anywhere, such as in their home, public park, or outdoor space. People can choose the exercises that suit their current fitness level. They could also move on to more difficult movements over time as their fitness improves. Share on Pinterest Shunevych Serhii/Shutterstock The following are calorie-burning exercises that a person can do at home with minimal equipment. These exercises can form a cardiovascular exercise program. For example, a person could do each exercise for 45 seconds to 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds, and move on to the next set. As their fitness levels increase, people may wish to perform these exercises in circuits. To perform circuits, a person completes 30–60 second rounds of each chosen exercise in succession before resting for 30–60 seconds. They then perform the entire course again, as many times as they prefer. Share on Pinterest This To perform: • Start with the feet together or no more than 3 inches (in) apart. • Bend the knees slightly and lift one leg 3–6 in off the floor. • Hold this position for 10–15 seconds and return the foot to the floor. • Repeat for the opposite leg. To increase difficulty, a person can lift their leg higher off the floor or jump from one leg to the other more quickly. Dancing to music To perform, bounce lightly from o...

How hard should you be exercising? The Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines for most healthy adults: • Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity — such as brisk walking, swimming or mowing the lawn — or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity — such as running or aerobic dancing. You can also do a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. It's best to do this over the course of a week. You can achieve more health benefits if you ramp up your exercise to 300 minutes or more of moderate aerobic activity a week. Even small amounts of physical activity are helpful, and accumulated activity throughout the day adds up to provide health benefits. • Strength training. Do strength training for all major muscle groups at least twice a week. Consider free weights, weight machines or activities that use your own body weight — such as rock climbing or heavy gardening. Or try squats, planks or lunges. Aim to do a single set of each exercise, using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. Your exercise intensity must generally be at a moderate or vigorous level for maximum benefit. For weight loss, the more intense or longer your activity, the more calories you burn. Balance is still important. Overdoing it can increase your risk of soreness, injury and burnout. Start at a light intensity if you're new to exercising. Gradually build up to a mode...

Are you fitting in at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of heart-pumping physical activity per week? If not, you’re not alone. Only about one in five adults and teens get enough exercise to maintain good health. Being more active can help all people think, feel and sleep better and perform daily tasks more easily. And if you’re sedentary, sitting less is a great place to start. These recommendations are based on the Recommendations for Adults • Get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensityaerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week. • Add moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity (such as resistance or weights) on at least 2 days per week. • Spend less time sitting. Even light-intensity activity can offset some of the risks of being sedentary. • Gain even more benefits by being active at least 300 minutes (5 hours) per week. • Increase amount and intensity gradually over time. Recommendations for Kids • Children 3-5 years old should be physically active and have plenty of opportunities to move throughout the day. • Kids 6-17 years old should get at least 60 minutes per day of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity, mostly aerobic. • Include vigorous-intensity activity on at least 3 days per week. • Include muscle- and bone-strengthening (weight-bearing) activities on at least 3 days per week. • Increase amount and intensity gradually over time. What is...

It’s no secret that regular exercise promotes health throughout the body. Research shows routine physical activity can improve cardiovascular health, strengthen A growing body of research suggests physical fitness is one way to boost brain health — and that a regular exercise routine can decrease the effects of stress on the body, improve mental health and mood, and even enhance memory and cognition. Exercise fuels the brain's stress buffers Exposure to long-term stress can be toxic to It may seem counterintuitive that exercise, a form of physical stress, can help the body manage general stress levels. But the right kind of stress can actually make the body more resilient. Research shows that while exercise initially spikes the stress response in the body, people experience lower levels of stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine after bouts of physical activity. So far, there's little evidence for the popular theory that exercise causes a rush of endorphins. Rather, one line of research points to the less familiar neuromodulator norepinephrine, which may help the brain deal with stress more efficiently. Research in animals since the late 1980s has found that exercise increases brain concentrations of norepinephrine in brain regions involved in the body's stress response. Norepinephrine is particularly interesting to researchers because 50% of the brain's supply is produced in the locus coeruleus, a brain area that connects most of the brain regions involved in emotio...

Exercise experts measure activity in metabolic equivalents, or METs. One MET is defined as the energy it takes to sit quietly. For the average adult, this is about one calorie per every 2.2 pounds of body weight per hour; someone who weighs 160 pounds would burn approximately 70 calories an hour while sitting or sleeping. Moderate-intensity activities are those that get you moving fast enough or strenuously enough to burn off three to six times as much energy per minute as you do when you are sitting quietly, or exercises that clock in at 3 to 6 METs. Vigorous-intensity activities burn more than 6 METs. One limitation to this way of measuring exercise intensity is that it does not consider the fact that some people have a higher level of fitness than others. Thus, walking at 3 to 4 miles-per-hour is considered to require 4 METs and to be a moderate-intensity activity, regardless of who is doing the activitya young marathon runner or a 90-year-old grandmother. As you might imagine, a brisk walk would likely be an easy activity for the marathon runner, but a very hard activity for the grandmother. This table gives examples of light-, moderate-, and vigorous-intensity activity for healthy adults. Light 6.0 METS • Walking slowly • Sitting using computer • Standing light work (cooking, washing dishes) • Fishing sitting • Playing most instruments • Walking very brisk (4 mph) • Cleaning heavy (washing windows, vacuuming, mopping) • Mowing lawn (power mower) • Bicycling light effo...

Regular exercise has been shown to help boost energy levels and enhance your mood. It may also be associated with many other powerful health benefits, including a reduced risk of chronic disease. Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories. There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking, and dancing, to name a few. Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally. It may even help you live longer ( Here are the top 10 ways regular exercise benefits your body and brain. It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity to the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression ( Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain ( Interestingly, it doesn’t matter how intense your workout is. It seems that exercise can benefit your mood no matter the intensity of the physical activity. In fact, in a study in 24 women diagnosed with depression, exercise of any intensity significantly decreased feelings of depression ( The effects of exercise on mood are so powerful that choosing to exercise (or not) even makes a difference over short periods of time. One review of 19 studies found that active people who stopped exercising regularly experienced signi...