National Exercise Guidelines
Not a lot of people (even trainers!) know that we have amazingly beneficial and super helpful national exercise guidelines. The guidelines are pretty much universal, top sources:
CESP (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology)
ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine)
WHO (World Health Organization)
All recommend the same amount of exercise to increase our mood, bone density, lean muscle mass, cognitive function, and sleep quality, and to decrease risk of certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and blood pressure. Exercise is like healing medicine for our bodies. Amazing stuff right?!
CARDIO:
National guidelines recommend weekly accumulation 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity cardio. Cardio-respiratory exercise is any rhythmic movement of your major muscles groups that increase your breathing and heart rate.
When exercising at moderate intensity you can’t quite talk comfortably and are a little breathy. When exercising at vigorous intensity you can say just a few words at a time and are breathing pretty hard.
A recent study shows getting in 150 minutes moderate or 75 minutes vigorous cardio every week can reduce your chance of death by any cause by 29%. That is only 21 minutes of moderate cardio per day, which can be achievable for most.
STRENGTH:
National guidelines recommend 2-3 weekly sessions challenging all the major muscles groups.
Muscle strengthening activities use resistance to challenge muscles to near-failure. Bands, hand weights, barbells, cable machines, body weight, and springs all count as resistance. Well planned Pilates equipment sessions fall under this strength category. So does my evidence-based Barre and Sculpt workouts. Studies show adding resistance training twice weekly reduces your chance of dying by 40%. INCREDIBLE!
ADDED BONUSES:
National guidelines recommend twice weekly neuromotor exercises that challenge your balance, coordination and control. National guidelines recommend twice weekly flexibility exercises that move your joints to their end range. Both can be accomplished during your cardio and strength sessions.
FREE WORKOUT!
Try out one of my favourite strength workouts I filmed in August. It's 40 minutes long, quick enough to fit into busy schedules, yet long enough to work all muscles to build a balanced body.
Looking for more motivating and effective on demand workout? Check out PLS On Demand, with over 250 workouts to choose from, you will find workouts that work well for your body and schedule.
