We are often consulted by doctors or fitness trainer to have „ moderate excercise”, though you do not really know what does it mean. Physiologist expert will explain it to you in an easy way, so that you can apply it into your daily exercise regime.
„Moderate activity is made up of exercises that boost your heart rate up to 50% – 60% higher than heart rate when you are at rest.”
Let’s see some example of moderate excercise:
- Walking 3.5 km in 30 minutes.
- Biking 8 km in 30 minutes.
- Jumping rope for 15 minutes.
- Swimming laps for 30 minutes.
- Running 2.5 km in 15 minutes.
- Playing volleyball for 45 minutes.
- Playing basketball for 20 minutes.
- Walking stairs for 15 minutes.
If you do household jobs, these activities are considered moderate exercise, too. These may include:
- Washing your cars for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
- Gardening for 45 minutes.
- Raking leaves for 30 minutes.
- Cleaning house for 45 minutes.
The expert also advise to do at least 10 minutes cardiovascular excercises (cardio training), and it can be up to 30 minutes if you have a sedentary lifestyle or chonical medical problems. Then you should incorporate with strength training excercise. Strength training helps with joint flexibility, increases muscle mass and increases bone density. Moreover, it promotes burning calories more easily, which in turn helps lose weight.
Calculate your Heart rate
You are able to know if your excercise is on the moderate range or not by calculating your heart rate. It is simple. Follow these steps:
- Defining heart rate when you totally at rest, for example, it is measured when you wake up in the morning.
- Define your target heart rate: Here we use the Karvonen formula.
- Maximum heart rate: Subtract your age from 220.
- Targeted heart rate: subtract your resting heart rate from your maximum heart rate. Multiply that number by 50-60% (because the moderate intensity range for increasing heart rate is 50-60%). Then, add your resting heart rate.
Let’s see an example. A 40-year-old man wants to know his maximum and targeted heart rate for moderate excercise. He has a resting heart rate of 75. He wants to exercise at 60% intensity. Let’s find the right answer for him:
Maximum heart rate = 220 – 40 = 180
Targeted heart rate: 180 – 75 = 105
(105 × 60%) + 75 = 138
So when he does moderate excercise, his targeted heart rate should be around 138. However, it should not exceed 180.
But it is not necessary to stick to calculation. The excercises above are good enough for you to practice, as long as you keep it regularly. If you don’t know really know where to start, you can seek advice from doctors or physical trainer. Base on your age and your health status, they will recommend you starting exercises which fit you the most.
Source: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-does-moderate-exercise-mean-anyway/