HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH

by Nicklaus Millican MS, RD, CES

Welcome back SCAC readers. One fundamental question for those of us in an exercise program is how much? Actually, the answer is more complicated than you might think: it depends. This article will lay out some considerations you should make before deciding how much.

How Hard Are You Working?

Exercise occurs on a spectrum of intensity--from very easy to very difficult. The level of intensity is measured by how long you can sustain that activity without making it easier.

For example, walking is easy enough that you can do thousands of steps and go for hours; 

however, if you're lifting a very heavy weight, you can only do a few reps over the course of a few seconds.

BOTTOM LINE: the more intense your exercise is, the less you can do; the less intense your exercise is, more you need to do.

How Often Are Your Working Out?

After working out, your body requires rest to recover; if you wait too long, you will not retain those benefits--if you don't wait long enough, you will not fully recover.

BOTTOM LINE: if you can only find time to exercise around twice in a week, you should probably do more when you do exercise; if you can exercise each day, you should do less each time.

How Fit Are You?

If you are a beginner to exercise, any amount of exercise will improve your fitness level. However, as your fitness level increases, you gain less benefit from each session of exercise.

BOTTOM LINE: as you get into better shape, you will need to do more (if you want to continue improving your fitness level); if you're just beginning, you should do less.

How Do You Feel?

Over the course of several exercise sessions, you can't expect you'll always be able to complete the same amount each time. Below is a form I give to my clients to help them gauge how much they should try to do for their workout that day.

Conclusion

This article has covered quite a bit. Feel free to post comments to Facebook or at the bottom of this article. Also, I'm always happy to talk if you come find me at the gym or email me at nicklaus.millican@gmail.com. 

Thanks for reading.