Posts Tagged ‘moderate intensity exercise’
Lose Weight by doing some Math!
How long would you need to exercise to lose weight if you’re 25, 35, 40 or even over 50? 
The only thing that I emphasize as far as age groups go within adulthood is that men over 40 and women over 50 should talk to their provider before starting an exercise program if they have been sedentary. In erring on the safer side, if a person is obese and even under those ages, again I would recommend they talk to their provider.
30 minutes a day is a MINIMUM recommendation for a person in a healthy weight range to get benefits from exercise. Simply put though, in order to reduce the risk of chronic disease as adults, you need to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity which you should consider to be above your usual activity that you do from work or home on most days of the week. Of course you will benefit from more intense workouts for a longer period of time. Remember as in posts before, it does not have to be all at once. But for weight loss, maximizing your calorie and fat burning during exercise is very important!! Comprende?? 
Getting into your target heart rate zone for weight loss is very important! If you are in fact in your target heart rate zone for a longer period of time, you will be able to lose weight at a more efficient rate say if you did vigorous exercise for 45-60 min as opposed to a moderate walk for 90 minutes, regardless if you are 35 or 75 years old. There are a few ways of determining your target heart rate for weight loss, but the best way and easiest way to determine your target heart rate (as I do for clients) is to take your age and subtract your age from 220. This is what is called your maximum heart rate. When doing a cardio workout, you can maximize your calorie burn by working out within 70-80% of your maximum heart rate and sustaining that rate for about 20-25 min. To determine this number, simply multiply .70 x your maximum heart rate and .80 x your maximum heart rate. This will give you the optimal range for cardio workouts. So I’ll use my age with this for example:
220-35= 185 (my maximum heart rate)
.70 x 185= 129.5
.80 x 185= 148
Target heart rate: 129- 148 (approximately) so 148 would be 80% of my MHR for example 
Just remember to engage in approximately 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity on most days of the week while not exceeding caloric intake requirements to lose weight. To sustain weight loss, try to get in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while not exceeding caloric intake requirements.
As a side note, you will have to increase your level of intensity to maintain your target heart rate for weight loss because your heart is getting more fit as you exercise!
Have fun :-)
