Recommended minutes of exercise

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Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone out there knows what is the recommended about of exercise a person needs to do per week to lose weight. I try and exercise everyday doing a minimum of 20 minutes on days where I am sort on time to 45 minutes + on days where I have more time. I'm not trying to melt all the fat away over night (the idea sounds nice though!) but I don't want to over do it to the point where I create more health issues.

If anyone could help me out it would be much appreciated. :wink:

Replies

  • sweettalkinggirl
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    bump ... :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Hi guys,

    Just wondering if anyone out there knows what is the recommended about of exercise a person needs to do per week to lose weight. I try and exercise everyday doing a minimum of 20 minutes on days where I am sort on time to 45 minutes + on days where I have more time. I'm not trying to melt all the fat away over night (the idea sounds nice though!) but I don't want to over do it to the point where I create more health issues.

    If anyone could help me out it would be much appreciated. :wink:

    Diet is for weight loss.
    Exercise is for heart health and body improvement, and it may help or hurt weight loss.

    Since the way MFP works is giving you a deficit before you enter any exercise, you eat back your exercise calories and have the same deficit anyway. Which could already be too big anyway, so don't make it worse.
    Make the deficit too great, you can kiss good amount of lean body mass (muscle) good bye with some fat. Especially since muscle only provides 600 calories compared to fat's 3500, easier to lose weight in muscle.

    30 min a day is all you need, the bigger factor to heart health is the intensity of that 30 min. Besides a 5 min warm-up and cool-down so muscle don't get tight and you get injured, the 20 min should be in Aerobic HR zone, 60-70% of your HRmax.

    But best for fat loss is lifting sufficiently heavy to make it hard to lift, and sore the next day. That will actually help retain muscle mass.
  • LordBear
    LordBear Posts: 239 Member
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    i recomend 60 min straight. any shorter and ur just teasing your self. .. to be doing much good u need to get your heart rate up and get a good sweat going. also depends on your current weight and health.
  • dougt333
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    Anything possible. I do about 30 on days that I work and 1-2 hours on my days off. I've lost 22 and now I'm starting to gain it back in muscle.
  • sweettalkinggirl
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    Thanks for the responses! You have all been very helpful :)
  • healthinside
    healthinside Posts: 17 Member
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    30 minutes a day (even just walking) are enough to get a lot of health benefits (this video is really nice and informing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo)!

    But personally I think this isn't enough for me. So I try to get moving for about 30 minutes in daily life every day, e.g. go walking, take stairs instead of elevetor and so on. My workouts go on top oft this and last between 30min and 1.5h depending on the type of exercise and the aspects I'm focusing on...
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
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    As long as possible really(just don't over do it!

    but MIN should be 20 mins at a time!
  • Debell92
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    The Mayo Clinic recommends 150 minutes of moderate aerobic or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic per week plus strength training. It's easy to break that down into smaller daily segments & meet the basic goal.