One of the main reasons someone joins a gym is to feel better physically, and a close second would be to stave off injuries and the effects of aging.
To accomplish these goals, we have to take into consideration a few things. Where we are at now physically and what we want a healthy lifestyle to look like for the long haul.
Two things have to be a part of that plan, physical activity, and nutrition.
Physical Activity
To increase physical strength and heart health and prevent the effects of aging such as loss of muscle, the increased feeling of being out of breath, and decreased bone density, and overall balance and stability. You need to do weight training, and you need to do some aerobic conditioning.
When weight training for physical health, you don’t need to lift heavy weights all the time, but on the other end, you shouldn’t just lift 5 and 10-pound weights either.
You should spend most of your time in the 70 to 80% effort range for any given exercise. What this looks like from an analytical standpoint:
- Take a weight, say 40 pounds for a Squat do as many reps as you can till you can’t get any more. Let’s say you did 10 reps. This would put you at an estimated 1 rep max of 55 pounds. Putting your weight range, you should work in, for the Squat, between 35 and 40 pounds.
For those that have no interest in the specific numbers, use this approach:
- Pick a weight that you feel you could still comfortably complete 2-4 more reps. Meaning if I am Squatting with a 40-pound weight and am doing 8 reps. Once I complete the 8 reps, you should feel like you could do 2 to 4 more reps if needed.
By working at this effort, you will make strength progress while decreasing the risk of injury.
Cardiovascular
You should spend most of your time in the 60 to 70% effort and some time in the 80% plus range for cardiovascular activity. The reasoning is we spend most of our life in the 60 to 70% range when doing activities. By becoming more efficient, you will not feel out of breath as often and be able to accomplish long tasks like mowing a lawn. However, we want to spend some time in the 80% range to help increase heart strength, teach recovery, and manage your physical effort.
What this looks like?
When going out for walks or riding a bike, or even jogging, you should be at a pace that allows you to talk pretty easily. This would be at 60% effort. If you were at 70% effort, you could still speak, but it would not be as comfortable.
When you get to the 80% plus, speaking would not be comfortable while doing the activity. This would be like running or pushing a sled.
Nutrition
Nutrition plays a significant role in body composition, inflammation, joint health, and energy.
Here are the big things to keep in mind for long term health:
- Don’t mindlessly eat, be intentional about what you put in your body
- Drink water throughout the day
- Have green vegetables at each meal
- Limite processed foods that come from a box
For a long healthy physical life, you need to stay active and eat reasonably healthy. By being smart about our activity and working at the right effort for Strenght and cardio training will allow us to keep doing what we love to do for the long run.
Your Fitness Sherpa,
