Exercise Right
Exercise and lead a healthy life to reduce risk of coronary heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, some cancers and so on. Staying healthy is not just about dieting and eating right, physical activity is also important to maintain a healthy body, boost energy, improves quality sleep and improve good mental health.
Regular exercise also helps us burn off those extra calories, keep a healthy BMI, reduce bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol and lower our blood pressure.
Types of exercise
Aerobic exercise: often known as cardio exercise like running, dancing, biking, swimming, badminton are some examples. These exercises involve your total body movement where you move fast, heart rate goes up and you will breathe harder. Should you have joint problems, swimming is a better alternative.
Strength training: These exercises tones up our muscles to develop stronger muscles and bones. It also increases your metabolic rate when you gain muscle and this helps to burn more calories. It also improves neural functioning and reaction time hence reduce risk of injury. You can use weights, resistance bands or own body weight (in yoga) to train. It is advisable to do it 2-3 times a week and let your muscle recover in between.
Stretching: These exercises help remove tension and stiffness in our joints and muscles and improve flexibility. Always do stretching before and after aerobic exercise.
Maximum Heart rate (MHR): it is a guide to gauge the intensity level of the exercise you are doing and how much you are pushing yourself. For vigorous intensity activity you should work till 80-85% of your MHR. As for moderate intensity activity you should aim towards 70-80% of your MHR. How to calculate maximum heart rate? MHR = 220 minus your age.
How much to exercise?
For Children and Adolescents (6-17 years old):
For adults 18-64 years old the recommended exercise regimes are:
Pregnant and post-partum women
Getting Started to gear up and exercise
Start exercise by choosing exercises that you enjoy as that will make you more consistent. Always start slow and slowly build up according to your stamina and resistance.The body needs time to adjust and adapt especially when you have been living an inactive sedentary life for awhile.
Be flexible if you do not have enough time, doing 10-15 minutes exercise 3 times a day is as good as a continuous 30 minutes moderate intensity workout. Always remember to warm up before and after exercise as it improves flexibility and prevent muscle pulls and strains.
Lack of motivation to continue? Try joining activities/ class at gym, engage family and friends to join you to stir up your interest and motivation. Set goals to keep yourself focused and motivated.
Exercise Caution
Always sick medical advice before starting any exercise regime if you have serious chronic medical conditions like diabetes, stroke or heart disease as your exercise need to be tailored to prevent any complications.
Should you experience chest pain, shortness of breath, extreme break out of sweat, dizziness, fainting spells, fast erratic heart beat during exercise, stop immediately and sick medical attention.
It is normal to feel muscle aches after exercise. Rest a day and you will realize that your stamina will slowly build up.
Exercise and lead a healthy life to reduce risk of coronary heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, some cancers and so on. Staying healthy is not just about dieting and eating right, physical activity is also important to maintain a healthy body, boost energy, improves quality sleep and improve good mental health.
Regular exercise also helps us burn off those extra calories, keep a healthy BMI, reduce bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol and lower our blood pressure.
Types of exercise
Aerobic exercise: often known as cardio exercise like running, dancing, biking, swimming, badminton are some examples. These exercises involve your total body movement where you move fast, heart rate goes up and you will breathe harder. Should you have joint problems, swimming is a better alternative.
Strength training: These exercises tones up our muscles to develop stronger muscles and bones. It also increases your metabolic rate when you gain muscle and this helps to burn more calories. It also improves neural functioning and reaction time hence reduce risk of injury. You can use weights, resistance bands or own body weight (in yoga) to train. It is advisable to do it 2-3 times a week and let your muscle recover in between.
Stretching: These exercises help remove tension and stiffness in our joints and muscles and improve flexibility. Always do stretching before and after aerobic exercise.
Maximum Heart rate (MHR): it is a guide to gauge the intensity level of the exercise you are doing and how much you are pushing yourself. For vigorous intensity activity you should work till 80-85% of your MHR. As for moderate intensity activity you should aim towards 70-80% of your MHR. How to calculate maximum heart rate? MHR = 220 minus your age.
How much to exercise?
For Children and Adolescents (6-17 years old):
- 1 hour or more aerobic activity every day
For adults 18-64 years old the recommended exercise regimes are:
- 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise per week. When doing moderate intensity exercise, you have enough breath to talk but not sing. 150 minutes of exercise can be spread over 5 days with 30 minutes of exercise each time.
- 75 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic exercise per week. When doing vigorous intensity exercise, you will not be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. 75 minutes can be spread over 3 days with 25 minutes of exercise each time.
- You will also benefit if you break up the 30 minutes segment daily into segments of 10-15 minutes.
- Moderate to high intensity muscle strengthening activity at least 2 times a week for additional health benefits.
- Same as per adults 18-64 but must be tailored to own's means because elderly may have chronic medical conditions, joint issues and mobility issues. You can consult a sports physician/medical personnel on how to tailor exercise to stay fit and reduce risk of other diseases.
Pregnant and post-partum women
- Maintaining your usual exercise regime is important for pregnant woman. Physical activity is safe and it DOES NOT cause early delivery, low birth rate, early pregnancy loss, impact fetal growth or impact's breast milk composition.
- 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise per week. 150 minutes of exercise can be spread over 5 days with 30 minutes of exercise each time. It is okay to divide into 10-15 minutes segment of the 30 minutes exercise regime per day.
- Do not engage in activity that are high risks of abdomen injury or falls for example horse riding, soccer and basketball.
Getting Started to gear up and exercise
Start exercise by choosing exercises that you enjoy as that will make you more consistent. Always start slow and slowly build up according to your stamina and resistance.The body needs time to adjust and adapt especially when you have been living an inactive sedentary life for awhile.
Be flexible if you do not have enough time, doing 10-15 minutes exercise 3 times a day is as good as a continuous 30 minutes moderate intensity workout. Always remember to warm up before and after exercise as it improves flexibility and prevent muscle pulls and strains.
Lack of motivation to continue? Try joining activities/ class at gym, engage family and friends to join you to stir up your interest and motivation. Set goals to keep yourself focused and motivated.
Exercise Caution
Always sick medical advice before starting any exercise regime if you have serious chronic medical conditions like diabetes, stroke or heart disease as your exercise need to be tailored to prevent any complications.
Should you experience chest pain, shortness of breath, extreme break out of sweat, dizziness, fainting spells, fast erratic heart beat during exercise, stop immediately and sick medical attention.
It is normal to feel muscle aches after exercise. Rest a day and you will realize that your stamina will slowly build up.
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