How Much to Exercise Each Day

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lulabellewoowoo
lulabellewoowoo Posts: 3,125 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Good morning,
I received this e-mail from the Jillian MIchaels site. For me, I found the last paragraph especially interesting. More isn't always better. Of course, I doubt I've ever been able to do high intense exercise for over two hours anyway.

How Much to Exercise Each Day

You may have heard the U.S. Surgeon General's recommendation of 30 minutes of physical activity a day. This is intended for people who want to maintain the most basic level of fitness — but not for people who want to lose weight. In a week, 30 minutes a day works out to an expenditure of about 1,000 calories, which is fine if you are looking to maintain your current weight. But if you want to lose, you're going to have to be prepared for a bit more work.

I much prefer the World Health Organization's recommendation of 60 minutes at a time as a starting point for my clients — an hour is ideal to get the most out of your workout and see significant results. Your 60-minute workout sessions should always include a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 50 minutes of your primary cardio or strength-training exercises, followed by at least 5 minutes of cooling down and stretching.

Of course, putting in more time will get you more results — but there's a limit. Excessive intense physical activity releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, into the body. This can actually inhibit weight loss, causing your body to react by storing fat and retaining water out of self-protection. So, to reach your goal, I recommend limiting intense exercise to no more than two hours a session.

Replies

  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    Thanks! :flowerforyou:
  • teetee1281
    teetee1281 Posts: 1,076 Member
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    To my surprise, I have found myself in the gym for over 2 hours, but not too often. My normal routine is 15 mins cardio before and after weight training, and I normally do 30-45 mins of free weights. So I normally get in a little over an hour 5 days a week.
  • MissTam
    MissTam Posts: 5
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    When I used to go to the gym I was there for an hour,5 days a week.

    Now I walk 7 nights a week for 1.5 hours and do 30 minutes on the exercise bike also.. A few people tell me that more than an hour a day is bad?! But I guess it depends on ones health at the time and each person is different?!

    So at the end of the day it's a 2 hour thing for me.

    :-)
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    I exercise on the treadmill for an hour at a time, three times per week - it was twice but I've just upped it in the last week or so). I've done all that everyday lark, ended up with back trouble bigtime.

    The price of getting older I guess :laugh:
  • LastFighter
    LastFighter Posts: 175 Member
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    Last week I exercised for 3 hours. 2 hrs were weight lifting and stretching which gives you good breaks. Cardio for 1 hr seems to drain me. I dont think you should do 2 hrs of cardio in a row unless you are already in decent shape.
  • Robin304
    Robin304 Posts: 64
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    Thanks for sharing!
  • pfenixa
    pfenixa Posts: 194 Member
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    Thanks for sharing that, I think it's something that I really needed to hear and keep in mind. So far all of my weight loss has been with exercise of 30 minutes, 40 at the most. Lately it's only been 20 minutes some days since I started doing Jillian's 30DS. My weight loss has been slowing down, so bumping up my exercise time is probably a good idea.

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