Aerobic exercise should be the foundation of your weekly exercise program performed most days of the week. Significant mental, emotional, and physical health benefits are found with consistent aerobic exercise each week. In recent years more academic research has focused on high intensity interval training. Essentially alternating between high and moderate intensity bouts of aerobic exercise.
This form of exercise allows participants to gain additional health benefits from their sessions of aerobic exercise. The minutes spent at a high or vigorous intensity accumulate and amount to a sum that would be hard to complete in a single continuous bout. One of the most studied high intensity interval training workouts is listed below. You can use any mode of aerobic exercise (swimming, running, walking, hiking, biking, rowing, etc.).
It is important to note that vigorous exercise is not appropriate for all individuals and all participants should meet with their physician before beginning an exercise program.
- Perform a 5-10 minute warm up
- 4 minutes at 85-95% of your heart rate reserve(HRR)
- 3 minutes at 70% of your HRR
- Complete 4 rounds of each
- Cool down for 5-10 minutes