Workouts fall into one of four categories: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility, each with its own set of benefits and challenges to keep us on our toes—literally and figuratively. We went to the experts to learn more about each type of workout. Read on for what they had to say. Meet the Expert. Endurance training is when the body produces energy in the presence of oxygen, most commonly known as aerobic or cardio workouts.
This type of workout can range from light to medium intensity, where your heart rate hovers at around percent of your maximum effort or soars to over 90 percent during intense bouts of exercise.
Other examples include jogging, running, cycling, and high-intensity interval training. But regardless of exertion level, endurance training is beneficial in increasing lung capacity, reducing cholesterol, and lowering blood pressure, leading to less likelihood of a heart attack. One remarkable aspect of endurance training is its fat and calorie-burning abilities post-workout, a phenomenon known as excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption EPOC —in short, the "afterburn effect. When our bodies move against resistance or added weight, we are building strength, hence the term 'strength training.
These include:. Functional training has a number of movement patterns, including push overhead press , pull bicep curls , hip-hinge deadlifts , squat squat pulses , and twist exercises Russian twists , among others.
Whether we realize it or not, balance is a key component in our everyday life, integral to how we stand, walk, reach, and move as a whole. By focusing on the muscles and supporting body mechanics which keep us upright mainly the surrounding leg muscles and core , we can better stabilize through our whole body to carry ourselves with confidence.
He suggests incorporating yoga poses such as tree pose, half-moon pose, and crow pose into your workouts. Alongside physical balance, he addresses the importance of achieving emotional balance. Stretching is essential to maintain or improve our range of motion, reduce tightness in certain regions and, in general, enhance daily movement. Examples include brisk walking, cycling, running, swimming, dancing and football.
Taking part in regular aerobic exercise will improve your cardiovascular fitness or endurance levels and has numerous other benefits for your health. These include reducing your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers as well as improving mood and sleep. There are many types of aerobic exercise, so choose one that suits you. Here are some examples of aerobic exercise and the benefits of each. Any amount of aerobic exercise will be beneficial to your health.
But good targets to aim for are:. Each of these will give you the same benefits. Or, you can mix it up with a combination of all three. You can adjust the intensity and amount of your exercise according to your goals, motivation and the level of fitness you wish to achieve. HIIT high intensity interval training is an increasingly popular type of exercise that involves short bursts of high intensity activity alternating with short bouts of light exercise.
Strengthening activities focus on building up or maintaining strength in your major muscle groups — for example, your arms and legs. Doing exercises to improve strength is important throughout life. It helps to develop muscle strength and healthy bones in childhood, and to maintain these as an adult. In later life, strengthening exercises help to delay the natural decline in muscle mass and bone strength.
Having strong muscles helps to maintain good posture and prevent problems such as low back pain. Strengthening exercises might involve equipment such as resistance bands or machines, and lifting weights. But there are plenty of everyday activities such as heavy gardening or carrying shopping that will help to develop your muscle strength.
You could also try following a home workout of strengthening exercises using either household items or do your own bodyweight workout. Be careful not to overdo it. Certain types of exercise can help to strengthen your bones. Weight-bearing or high-impact activities such as running, skipping and jumping, create an impact on your body and help to stimulate bone growth and repair.
This is particularly important for children, whose bones are still growing, and for older people, whose bone density tends to decline. Bupa SmartDNA examines your genetic composition to help you eat, move and think smarter. Exercises that improve your flexibility that is, how well your joints move or their range of motion can help to keep you mobile and active.
This type of exercise involves slowly stretching your muscles, without jerking or bouncing them. Activities that help with flexibility include yoga and Pilates. These involve gently easing and stretching your body into different positions, and then holding position while concentrating on your breathing.
As well as improving your flexibility, these activities help with strength and balance. They may help you to relax too. You may be able to find yoga and Pilates classes locally. Alternatively, you can follow a routine at home, like our minute morning yoga routine in this video. Even just doing some gentle stretches will help with flexibility. Hold stretches for between 10 and 60 seconds and repeat two or three times.
Everyone knows that routine exercise is very important for healthy adults for varied functions, including bone and muscle strength, weight-loss or weight maintenance, heart health and even cognitive health.
But there are four different types of exercise: Aerobic or endurance , strength, flexibility and balance. The CDC recommends that, for healthy aging, adults 65 years or older who are generally fit and have no health conditions that limit their activity, should engage in one of three variations on exercise per week:.
So if you have a very busy schedule, even doing three, minute aerobic exercises per day, five days per week, will be sufficient. To get you started, here are the different types of exercise, how they benefit the body and what kind of activities they entail:.
It can be a form of passive stretching or a dynamic stretching in a fast, bouncing motion, forcing the limb into an extended range of motion. PNF Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation is a contract-stretch-hold technique repeated times, and research says it may be the most effective stretching technique for increasing range of motion.
These days yoga boasts as many styles of the practice as there are ranges of activewear brands. Hatha, Ashtanga, Iyengar, hot yoga, vinyasa flow, Kundalini and yin are a few of the most commonly known ones.
What all these practices have in common is the integration of body and breath through stretching, isometric bodyweight exercises, and moving meditation. Regular practice will help mobilize joints, stretch ligaments and strengthen muscles — in summary, keep you limber. Over time Pilates will not only increase flexibility but help improve coordination, balance and all-round stability.
This form of mobility work, along with other devices like lacrosse balls for trigger points, are an indispensable part of any regular workout regime.
Foam rolling offers deep tissue release and can be done pre-workout to warm muscles up or post-workout to alleviate tension. Improves cardiorespiratory and pulmonary health, measurable by a lower resting heart rate. Increases bone density, especially vital as women age, due to the risk of osteoporosis. Subscribe to our email newsletter to receive weekly articles and great inspiration.
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