ONLY WALKING

What physical exercise do you do? How many times per week? Surely these questions have been asked by your coaches before starting a program with them. But the key question is the intensity at which you are doing that exercise.

Some people go to the gym, others play paddle tennis, golf, etc., and others just walk. I emphasize only because walking is an aerobic exercise, in most cases of low intensity. Activities such as hiking put that spicy point that is lacking when “only” walking, since the accumulation of hours, kilometers or the profile of the route entails a greater intensity.

Regular walking, the typical cholesterol routes, are a suitable alternative for people with a very, very low physical condition, since in that case they will pose a challenge, and therefore they will reach an optimal training threshold.

But for the rest of the mortals these walks at light-moderate intensity will not provide us with sufficient benefits. In fact, as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) indicates, the appropriate intensity for aerobic exercise will be moderate-intense. If it is moderate, it is recommended to carry out the activity for a minimum of 5 days, if it is intense at least 3. Each day of moderate activity you should do 30 minutes, accumulating a minimum of 150 minutes per week. This is what Agita Mundo proclaims on the Day of Physical Activity that is celebrated on April 6 of each year. But another trend is to do intense exercise, with a minimum of 20 minutes per day, accumulating at least 75 minutes.

This last option is within which the Active Integral EMS is found, in almost all cases, since the FAST method is intense, although in some sessions you do not end with that feeling, and the duration is 20 minutes.

You are probably wondering what the difference is between moderate and intense intensity (or vigorous as some call it). Well, the WHO makes it clear:

• Moderate physical activity: requires a moderate effort that perceptibly accelerates the heart rate. Between 3 and 6 MET.
• Vigorous physical activity – requires a great deal of effort and causes rapid breathing and a substantial increase in heart rate. More than 6 MET.

This WHO classification is relative, since the cardiorespiratory requirement and intensity are a consequence, not only of activity, but also of physical condition. This means that for a trained person, the same activity will require less effort than for someone who is not. As many of the scientific studies that analyze aerobic exercise interventions do, we could mark a line at 75% of the Heart Rate Reserve (HRR), below, and not less than 40-50%, it will be moderate exercise, and above it will be considered vigorous exercise.

And how can you calculate your Reserve Heart Rate?

1. Take your basal pulse right after you wake up in the morning.
2. Calculate your Maximum Heart Rate: 220 minus your age.
3. Calculate the percentage you need to find out: for example, if you want to know the heart rate you must have to train at 75% of your HRR, you subtract the basal from your maximum heart rate, then multiply it by the percentage, and finally add the basal . If you are 20 years old and in the morning you have 60 beats per minute (ppm) it will be

Let’s suppose that in your walks you do reach that minimum of 150 minutes a week at moderate intensity … Well, you still need a little more exercise to stay healthy, since it is not only aerobic exercise that makes you healthy. That is why ACSM also makes basic recommendations on resistance, flexibility and neuromotor exercise.

Resistance resistance exercise will prevent something as basic as sarcopenia, and therefore also osteoporosis, with which it is closely related, and important issues such as falls will be avoided. In this line, the neuromotor exercise must accompany to consolidate the results, and the flexibility exercise to provide safe ranges of mobility that allow a fluid and complete movement.

With the FAST method we can help you achieve those recommended minimums of physical activity indicated by ACSM. Go ahead and start moving with us.