Did you promise to get fit this year? Are you now wondering how to do that? How much to exercise and what sports you should start doing? Let me help you with these questions! I have had balanced exercise habits for years and these are keeping me fit and healthy – and I want to share my best tips and practices to help you!

 

 

How Often You Should Exercise?

 

According to WHO (World Health Organization), 30 minutes a day is enough to maintain your cardiovascular health. Anyhow, if you like to exercise or want to improve your physic you might want to exercise more and that’s absolutely fine.

 

Personally, I work out at gym or dance classes around 3-5 times a week. Additionally, I walk around worth 30-90 minutes a day. It’s important to have at least 1-2 day off per week. You don’t need to have a day off low-heart-rate cardio like walking or stretching but have those day offs from workouts that either require a lot of physical strength or speed or significantly increases your heartbeat, like gym, running and other sports that make.

 

In general, I’d say that walk or cycle around as much as you want (as long as you feel good with that). And do things like running and gym 2-5 times a week. If you want to do more it might be good to contact a physician and a personal trainer before starting with that tight schedule.

 

 

How Much Exercise at Once is Good?

 

The good amount of exercise per time depends on what kind of exercise you’re doing and what’s your health and workout history. If you’re a beginner start with shorter exercises and listen how your body reacts. Start for example with 20-30 at a time and slowly increase if it still feels good.

 

Because I mostly train in gym my workouts tend to be 30-60 minutes because the risk of accidents tends to raise if you’re training with weights for too long. If you do something less risky, let’s say cycle or golf you should be fine with longer times as well. If you’re unsure about good amount of training, I advise you to ask for advice from a professional trainer.

 

 

What are the Best Ways of Exercising?

 

Prefer improving all the areas of fitness – cardiorespiratory, resistance/strength, balance, core and flexibility. You can either find one sport that improves all or do couple different ones regularly. Don’t only think what the specific sport improves – also, think what you like and enjoy the most!

 

For example, you can train all those five areas in gym if you wish. On the other hand, you can combine multiple sports – let’s say yoga, body bump and cycling. In my opinion, some sports are not better than the rest. Do what you enjoy, and improve your fitness and wellness!

 

 

How Fast You Will See the Results?

 

Usually, you start feeling good and your health starts improving after couple workouts. If your target is losing weight or gain muscle, you need to work consistently. You might see some results after month or two but bigger changes usually take months or even years.

 

Anyhow, focus on moving forward and being a better version of yourself than yesterday. Don’t try to hurry, focus on keeping yourself healthy an improving slowly. Usually results gained without too fast changes last longer.

 

 

My Exercise Habits

 

I tend to be active during the day every day. I walk to my university from home, I walk around at work, and I go around with my dog. By walking around, I usually get around 10.000 steps per day – and my Apple Watch tells me I also burn 300-500 calories per day by walking around.

 

Additionally, I love dancing and I target to take at least one dance class per week. With my super busy schedules, this isn’t always possible – if I cannot take a dance class I substitute this with a gym workout. Every week I train 3-5 times by either dancing or training at the gym. I also take a couple of stretching or yoga classes per month.

 

When summer comes I love to play beach volley and during wintertime, I sometimes play badminton with my friends. I’d love to try some new sports this year. Even though I have found plenty of sports I like, I love challenging myself by trying something new every year.

 

To track my exercise history, I use my Apple Watch and free Activity app for iPhone. I found out it motivating to see how I’m doing. Additionally, you can share your activity with friends and you can cheer each other.

 

 

 

Also, read the previous posts of this series:

• Wellness Wednesday 1/5: Foods I Eat (almost) Everyday
• Wellness Wednesday 2/5: Lifestyle Choices that Keep Me Healthy and Happy

 

Two more Wellness Wednesday posts coming upcoming Wednesdays this months, stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

What exercise habits you have? How much and when do you exercise? What are your favorite sports?