There is a lot of confusion as to how much exercises we should do for keeping ourselves fit. This is because there are as many suggestions and ideas as there are experts. Day in and day out, we are flooded with new ideas and this adds to the confusion instead of giving us a clear picture. You may also be one among these confused lot and therefore, an attempt is being made here to give some general tips so that you can keep yourself fit.
The general rule of thumb is that you can should moderate exercises for about 45 minutes to one hour, three to four times a week. But, if you face a time-constraint, you can do high-intensity exercises for about 20 minutes daily. The overall duration can be around 150 minutes of exercises of normal intensity per week.
Cardiovascular exercises should necessarily form a part of your exercises regimen. Brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, running, etc. will immensely keep your heart and other respiratory organs fit. These exercises will improve your blood circulation and with improved blood circulation, you can have a fit and alert brain also.
There are many people who do weight-lifting or strength-training exercises and who think that these are enough for keeping their heart and lungs fit. They can not be more wrong. These strength-training exercises can not take care of the fitness of your heart and other respiratory organs. Even certain yogic exercises do not focus on the fitness of heart and lungs. So, those who do strength-training exercises or yoga should necessarily do cardiovascular exercises also for having a healthy heart and respiratory system.
Another point to remember is that those who do cardiovascular exercises alone will not have a good muscle mass. A good muscle mass is very much essential if your aim is to reduce your excess weight. This is because a good muscle mass needs more calories for maintaining itself. So, your body will be burning more calories. In fact, a good muscle mass will be in need of calories even when you are sleeping. So, it will be easy for you to reduce your excess weight. Therefore, it is better to do strength-training exercises and have a good muscle mass if you wish to reduce your excess weight.
Those who are interested in doing yogic exercises should not do strength-training exercises. This is because the aim of yogic exercises is to keep your muscles loose and relaxed and supply a good amount of blood to all the parts of the body including the inner parts. But, in strength-training exercises, the muscle mass becomes hard and this is quite contrary to the aim of yogic exercises. So, yoga and strength-training exercises do not go together.
Conclusively, it should be a combination of either yoga and cardiovascular exercises or strength-training and cardiovascular exercise. The overall duration can be around 150 minutes a week. Beginners should start with short sessions and increase the duration and intensity gradually. But, you must not forget the fact that whatever exercises you do, if you sit still for longer durations, you face a health risk. So, you are advised to get up once in twenty minutes and do a few stretching exercises or have a stroll and so on.
