How do you know if you are getting enough exercise each week?
According to the US Department of Health, you want to shoot for 2 hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate intensity aerobic activity. There are many ways to get these life-enhancing minutes in:
– 30 minutes of aerobic activity 5 days a week
– 50 minutes of aerobic activity 3 days a week
– 1 hour and 15 minutes of aerobic activity 2 days a week
You also want to add strength-building activities such as sit-ups, push-ups, lifting weights, working with resistance bands, or even heavy gardening like digging and shoveling. When my husband was a teenager, he wanted to bulk up like some of the other boys and he asked his mom for a weight set.
He got a shovel.
I love that story. Moms can be very practical!
One new tradition my family has in 2013 is a family sit-up minute on most nights. We set the timer for 1 minute and 15 seconds and we all try to see how many sit-ups we can do. It’s actually a lot of fun. It builds team within our family and gives us something to do together towards physical fitness. It also tracks progress which is exciting. And the best news is it takes less than two minutes.
How are you going to fit in exercise this year? What fitness routines have you found the most effective?
