According to the World Health Organization, laziness has become the fourth most significant risk factor for death worldwide. Exercise is not just about getting your body moving. There are the best exercises for every age group!
Exercise Pyramid
To figure out what works for you, first, you need to understand that there is a pyramid of five different types of exercise based on intensity.
Type 1：Basic Physical Activity
Our daily routine of climbing stairs, doing housework, shopping, and walking the dog are all in the first category. This type of exercise is moderate in intensity to do it every day. Up to 30 minutes is considered a practical exercise. Of course, if you are willing to continue to exercise, we are very supportive.
Type 2：Stretching
This category includes calisthenics, yoga, stretching, and more. If you feel a stretch in your body while doing these exercises, it's moderate intensity. Stretching can last about 30 seconds for each action, and do each step 6 to 10 times.
Type 3：Aerobic + Leisure Exercise
Fitness people will be more familiar with this type of exercise. It includes medium-intensity activities such as swimming, mountaineering, jogging, ball games. But need to continue to exercise for more than 20 minutes to achieve the effect of reducing fat. This kind of exercise is known as "fat buster"!
Type 4：Strength Training
Strength training is the best way to promote muscle formation and improve our basal metabolic capacity. Include half squat, deep squat, sit-up, plank, and so on. This kind of exercise is commonly known as anaerobic exercise. It works a little more complicated than our muscles can handle, so that that muscle soreness may occur after the workout.
Type 5：Static Activities
Static activities include sitting in the office, watching TV, playing games, reading books, etc. The intensity of this type of activity is minimal, so try to minimize or shorten the duration of static action. For every hour of stagnant activity, you need to move more. Otherwise, it increases the risk of chronic disease.
After the exercise pyramid is clear, let's talk about how we should reasonably arrange these forms of exercise to suit people of different ages.
Best Exercise For Different Ages
6-17 Years Old
In this age group, we need to focus on strengthening the musculoskeletal parts of our bodies. Because this is a crucial stage to shape our body and bones, we can choose moderate-to-high intensity exercise, supplemented with some strength training. It is recommended to exercise for more than 60 minutes every day and do at least three days of high-intensity practice every week. Recommended exercise: jogging, cycling, and other moderate-intensity exercises. Rope skipping, all kinds of ball games, swimming, and other high-intensity sports. Strength training such as rock climbing, push-ups, and sit-ups.
18-64 Years Old
At this stage, the intensity of exercise remains the same. Still, it increases gradually, at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, plus at least two days of whole-body muscle strength training. Recommended exercise: brisk walking, swimming, ballroom dancing, and other moderate-intensity exercises. It is running, aerobics, fast cycling, and other high-intensity sports. Stretch belt training, pull-ups, sit-ups, and further strength training.
Over 65 Years Old
After 65, it's time to choose your exercise form carefully. At this point, the body is more or less unable to adapt to different forms of exercise at the same intensity due to chronic diseases. Recommended exercise: moderate-intensity exercises such as walking, dancing, cycling, and jogging. You can choose dumbbells, gardening, yoga, etc.
For sedentary people, exercise is vital! But our body is a unique organism. Good as training is, we must not pursue it blindly. I also want to remind you of some precautions about exercise!
Exercise Precautions
Differences Between Men And Women In Sports
For women, any exercise should follow the principle of simple to complex, step by step, choose the right amount of activity to shape a beautiful body, improve physical quality, rather than more greed. Especially when doing strength training, act according to your ability and remember to stretch after exercise!
For men, they need to control the intensity of exercise. Never drink heavily and smoke immediately after exercise! Otherwise, it will increase the burden on the heart and blood circulation.
Differences In Sports In Different Weather
When it's cold, first of all, keep warm and then warm-up for the next exercise. It is suggested that we try not to do outdoor activities in the morning of winter, the winter weather is relatively poor will not be conducive to our better exercise.
When the weather is hot, people's energy consumption will be relatively large, then exercise is easy to cause hypoglycemia, so we should exercise gradually and step by step.
When exercising in summer, drinking some saltwater after exercising is highly recommended. If the weather is hot to 35°C and you still want to exercise, then swimming is a perfect choice!
People Who Are Not Suitable For Strenuous Exercise
For some people, exercise is insufficient for nothing, including those with heart disease, respiratory disease, skeletal sclerosis, severe anemia, brain disease, ear disease, lung disease, epilepsy, etc. Because too much exercise will lead to a high heart rate, which will not provide enough energy for the body in time, these people must be extra careful!
Other Exercise Precautions
Do not exercise when you are full, preferably 2 hours after meals. Before exercising, do a complete warm-up preparation rather than directly entering the exercise state. Otherwise, muscle strain and injury are prone to occur.
After exercising:
- Allow time for adequate stretching.
- At the same time, don't drink too much after exercising, take a small amount of time, and then stop exercising slowly.
- When the heart rate returns to normal for a while, go to a bath and rest.
