March 22 2019 – exercise volume
A question we get, probably more frequently than any other, surrounds the topic of exercise volume. Namely, how many days per week should one be working out, and for how long per exercise session. Well, seems like a simply question, but like most things with the human body, there are many layers to the answer. So let’s tackle it in 3 parts.
1. The really easy answer can be found through many different health and exercise organizations who seek to answer this question in as simple a format as possible. The basic idea is to provide your body with a moderate to intense bought of sustained heart rate activity on at least 4 days per week. Some suggest ‘most’ days of the week, but we don’t really know what exactly that means, so let’s stick with 4. The minimum suggested minutes for each of these sessions is 20 with sustained heart rate. So, add in a warm up and cool down, and you’re likely looking to spend a minimum of 30 minutes, 4 days per week. There’s also a huge body of evidence to suggest that resistance training can replace some of those heart rate based sessions with increased benefit. So, still stick with 4 sessions, but mix it up a bit. That’s the easy answer.
2. Because the easy answer doesn’t always satisfy the reality, let’s ask a question to layer this up a bit. What’s your goal? If you like riding bikes and your goal is to ride in the Tour de France, then you’ll need a whole bunch more volume and intensity than a casual cyclist who’s looking to mitigate the onset of cardiovascular disease. The latter can fall back to the answer in 1 above. The former will need to quick his job and sacrifice his family to become a professional cyclist. Where on the spectrum are you, what stage in your life are you at, and what degree of sacrifice are you able to make towards your fitness goals? Answers to those questions will be important for you in deciding how much exercise is the right amount for you.
3. If we can agree that the very minimum amount of necessary exercise is covered in 1, what’s the high end? Let’s tackle this by first making a rather bold statement – There’s no such thing as over training! I.e. there’s no such thing as too much exercise. Sound unlikely? I get it. My response is simply to state that its not about over training, but rather under-recovering. Your body has an amazing capacity to recover from any number of stimuli… if you let it. To recover from any type of stress is very possible, but you have to provide the body with the tools necessary to do so. Exercise is a physical stress. Every type of stress we burden ourselves with takes some of our body’s capacity to deal with it. Family, work, finances, relationships, complex and busy schedules – these are all examples of phycological stressors that can wreak havoc on your body’s recovery capacity. We also have to consider your digestive system, circadian health, levels of toxicity, musculoskeletal health, and many other factors. All of these add together to create a total physiological load on your system. The higher your levels of physiological load; the lower your capacity to recover from exercise, which means the lower your level of exercise volume and intensity needs to be. Striking that balance is the most important factor in answering the seemingly simple question of How Much Exercise Should I Do??
Want to talk about this in more detail. Don’t hesitate to come and see me.
Andrew
1. The really easy answer can be found through many different health and exercise organizations who seek to answer this question in as simple a format as possible. The basic idea is to provide your body with a moderate to intense bought of sustained heart rate activity on at least 4 days per week. Some suggest ‘most’ days of the week, but we don’t really know what exactly that means, so let’s stick with 4. The minimum suggested minutes for each of these sessions is 20 with sustained heart rate. So, add in a warm up and cool down, and you’re likely looking to spend a minimum of 30 minutes, 4 days per week. There’s also a huge body of evidence to suggest that resistance training can replace some of those heart rate based sessions with increased benefit. So, still stick with 4 sessions, but mix it up a bit. That’s the easy answer.
2. Because the easy answer doesn’t always satisfy the reality, let’s ask a question to layer this up a bit. What’s your goal? If you like riding bikes and your goal is to ride in the Tour de France, then you’ll need a whole bunch more volume and intensity than a casual cyclist who’s looking to mitigate the onset of cardiovascular disease. The latter can fall back to the answer in 1 above. The former will need to quick his job and sacrifice his family to become a professional cyclist. Where on the spectrum are you, what stage in your life are you at, and what degree of sacrifice are you able to make towards your fitness goals? Answers to those questions will be important for you in deciding how much exercise is the right amount for you.
3. If we can agree that the very minimum amount of necessary exercise is covered in 1, what’s the high end? Let’s tackle this by first making a rather bold statement – There’s no such thing as over training! I.e. there’s no such thing as too much exercise. Sound unlikely? I get it. My response is simply to state that its not about over training, but rather under-recovering. Your body has an amazing capacity to recover from any number of stimuli… if you let it. To recover from any type of stress is very possible, but you have to provide the body with the tools necessary to do so. Exercise is a physical stress. Every type of stress we burden ourselves with takes some of our body’s capacity to deal with it. Family, work, finances, relationships, complex and busy schedules – these are all examples of phycological stressors that can wreak havoc on your body’s recovery capacity. We also have to consider your digestive system, circadian health, levels of toxicity, musculoskeletal health, and many other factors. All of these add together to create a total physiological load on your system. The higher your levels of physiological load; the lower your capacity to recover from exercise, which means the lower your level of exercise volume and intensity needs to be. Striking that balance is the most important factor in answering the seemingly simple question of How Much Exercise Should I Do??
Want to talk about this in more detail. Don’t hesitate to come and see me.
Andrew
Natural High Fitness is located at
the Okotoks Recreation Centre.
99 Okotoks Drive
Okotoks, Alberta
403-938-4483
The Natural High Crossfit Box is located at:
113 Fisher Street
Okotoks, Alberta
403-938-7051 CrossFit Classes
403-828-3512 CrossFit Kids Classes
Mailing address:
PO Box 1545
Okotoks, AB
T1S 1B5
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