Many Of Us Overestimate Our Exercise Levels – Here’s How to Calculate How Much You Really Do

A walking pace of at least three miles per hour or higher with no breaks during the 30 minutes of exercise would be needed for this to be considered 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise. You should be able to maintain this pace for up to an hour but not more. For those avid walkers, be mindful of how you feel during these walks. The fitter you get, the faster you will need to walk to get your heart rate to reach the desired intensity.

It’s worth remembering that the heart is also a muscle, just like your arms and legs. In order to keep it healthy and strong, it’s important to get the heart pumping – which is why moderate or vigorous exercise is important. Increased use of your heart muscle will also lead to better cardiovascular fitness, which can help reduce risk of premature death or cardiovascular disease and heart attacks.

While WHO’s recommendations exist to help people keep fit and stay healthy, it’s up to each person to choose what activities are best for them. And as you exercise more, be sure to preceptor your progress by being mindful of how the exercise feels. If it starts to feel easier, you may need to up the intensity in order to reach the target heart rate.

Viv Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow, Sports and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the innovador article.