Understanding Principles of Exercise

Health & Fitness


It doesn’t matter which fitness programme you start on the basics behind them are all the same. Every exercise or fitness programme relies on frequency, intensity and duration as the base and will include sets and repetitions.

Frequency

The frequency of your fitness regime relates to the amount of days you spend on your exercise routine, in order to maintain your current health or to become fitter you should exercise is some form or other at least five days out of the week.

Intensity

The intensity of exercise can be measured in many different ways from the scientific to the more simple; the easiest way for a person to measure the intensity of a workout routine themselves in a gym or at home is to wear a portable heart rate monitor.

The intensity of a workout is usually said to be strenuous, moderate or mild, exactly what defines a mild, moderate or strenuous routine will differ from person to person depending on several factors such as your current level of health and fitness.

For example f you were a gold medallist in the Olympics and you were to run a mile in under 10 minutes then this would be classed as mild exercise, for most of us however this would be considered strenuous exercise or even impossible to do.

For the average person who wants to maintain there weight or who is on a diet and exercise program, then mild to moderate exercise is all that is needed on a daily basis.

Mild or moderate as a general rule will mean for most of us a brisk walk but again it all depends on your current health and the level of your fitness.

Duration

Duration is the actual length of time you need to be active in any one session, whatever your choice of exercise, fitness experts recommend that to remain fit and for exercise to have any benefit on your health then you must exercise roughly for 30 minutes 5 days a week.

This might sound like a lot but remember it is only mild to moderate exercise you are doing and this includes things like taking a walk, it doesn’t have to be an aerobics workout or lifting weights.

If you are only just starting an exercise regime then it is important that you build up the duration, slowly start off with maybe 15 minutes per day and work up to 30 minutes over a few weeks.

Repetitions and Sets

A repetition or rep as it is most commonly referred to is a single lift of a weight or 1 sit up or doing 1 exercise of whatever your chosen fitness plan consists of, a set is a group of those repetitions and as a rough guide when you first start on your fitness plan you will generally start off with a low amount of both reps and sets.

More than likely you will start of with about 5 reps of each exercise and probably 1 set, and then work up slowly with perhaps adding another 5 reps to the set after a week or so.

The total amount of reps and sets will depend on your level of fitness and health and also on the amount of time you have set aside for your exercise routine.