Exercise - How Much Do You Need?

by Fitz K. (Subscribe to Fitz K.'s posts)
Apr 22nd 2009 12:00PM

Categories: Ask Fitz!, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answers. Our That's Fit fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz. Quick question: I'm 37 and trying to get in better shape. I've already started eating better and exercising, but I don't know exactly how much I should do. I'm busy, but I can make a decent amount happen based on your recommendations. Thanks for the help, Angel

A. Hi Angel. Great question. I was just talking about this today at a speaking engagement, so I'll tell you what I told that large group I held captive. I believe when you hear my answer you'll be shocked at how little you're actually being asked to do.

There are 168 hours in a week. For most of us, if we are not deliberately exercising, we're spending the majority of our time fairly still. Think about it. A vast amount of our time is spent sleeping, sitting for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and while traveling, working, watching TV, e-mailing and more. Sitting and sleeping take up lots of time, so that makes most people fairly sedentary. Knowing this, how much time do you think is reasonable to set aside for active movement (exercise)?

Is one hour out of 168 too much to ask for exercise? How about two, three or even six? Do you think six hours of motion out of 168 is excessive? Neither do I. So I'd like you to do between six and nine hours a week. That's a fair amount of time in which you can accomplish a great amount of cardiovascular, strength, flexibility and balance training.

It may sound like a lot, but it's really not in the grand scheme of things. Once you get into the habit of exercising each day for an hour or so, your body will begin to crave it, and the results will come quickly. To keep exercise interesting, make sure to vary your workouts. Run, dance, lift, do pilates or yoga and play sports. Choices for fitness are plentiful, so boredom should never be an issue.

For those of you with uber-tight schedules, of course, you can get by on less time. Just make sure that your time is highly productive if it's short. And if you're free on time, please feel free to do more! Most important, I hope you'll learn to welcome daily exercise as a wonderful part of your life. It's truly the best gift you could ever give yourself. Now get to work!

Punches & Kicks,

Fitz

Fitzness.com

Note: The content presented in this Q. & A section is for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as medical advice or substitute for professional medical care.

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Comments (3)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

anne winters 4-22-2009 @ 12:30PM

A recent study shows that women need to have a well planned workout program. I read at http://www.projectweightloss.com why more exercise helps weight loss. The number of the women involved in the study was two hundred and one, but only one hundred and seventy had the necessary strength to finish this routine. At the beginning all the participants were sedentary.

Jonathan Aluzas 4-22-2009 @ 2:23PM

Hey, Fitz,
I agree with you that several hours a week is not unreasonable for people who want to have optimum fitness. Unfortunately, I don't know many people who achieve that amount (including me, and I own a gym!). The new federal guidelines recommend 2.5 hours per week of moderate exercise or 1.25 hours of rigorous exercise per week, which I find to be sadly lacking. I think intensity is a key issue, as well. I think it's safe to say that most people are substandard in terms of their intensity, thereby failing to maximize the value of whatever amount of time they allot to exercise anyway. I guess, in a real-world setting, I would recommend at least 5 rigorous 45 minute sessions per week. That won't get them into Muay Thai shorts and into the ring with YOU, but that would be a pretty good start for John Q. Public.

u262f 4-22-2009 @ 5:20PM

Simplistic across-the-board recommendations are only useful for people who are physically average and live average lives. I think saying "I've already started eating better and exercising, but I don't know exactly how much I should do" to someone else, even an expert, is the wrong attitude and giving up your personal responsibility for your own health.

While it's good to ask an expert to help you, you are the only person who has enough information to figure out exactly how much exercise you need. Remember that all physical activity counts somewhat. It matters if you commute in a car or bike to work, and those who bike to work need less gym time than those who use a car. It matters if you take the stairs or the elevator, and if you go up stairs quickly or slowly. If you walk briskly around the mall while window-shopping after work every day, you need less treadmill time than someone who goes home and watches TV instead. If you manually mop the floors every week across every inch of a large home, you don't need to set aside quite as much separate exercise-specific time as someone who hires a cleaning service or doesn't mop their floors at all.

How much exercise people will need also depends on how much food they eat -- and, how much people eat should take into account how much they move around. People who eat more should exercise more to match.

I think it's good to fit in as much physical activity seamlessly into one's lifestyle as possible. People should try to move around all the time, not only when they're in the gym. So, asking "exactly how much" exercise you should do is the wrong approach to the question because it means you're not taking a whole-life approach to your health.

I don't see how anyone can give you any reasonable figure for "exactly how much" exercise you should do without living your life and being you.