Calories Expended During Certain Activities:

Data from ACSM Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription Third Edition

ACTIVITY*	Calories expended in 30 minutes Male (175 lbs)	Calories expended in 30 minutes Female (135 lbs)
Biking 12-13.9 mph (moderate effort)	334	258
Circuit Training	334	258
Stretching, hatha yoga	167	129
Dancing - general	188	145
Dancing - ballet, modern	251	193
House Cleaning - vigorous (mop, wash car)	188	145
House Cleaning - light (dusting, vacuuming)	104	81
Playing w/ kids moderate - walk/run	167	129
Gardening	209	161
Mowing lawn - Hand mower	251	193
Running - 6 mph	418	322
Jogging	292	225
Basketball - Game	334	258
Children's Games	209	161
Football	334	258
Frisbee	125	97
Horseback Riding	167	129
Skating	292	225
Soccer	292	225
Softball/Baseball	209	161
Tennis	292	225
Hiking	251	193
Walking - 4 mph, level surface	167	129
Walking - leisure	146	113
Canoeing/Rowing - moderate	292	225
Kayaking	209	161
Swimming laps freestyle - moderate	334	258

Physical Activty Pyramid

Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia by Georgia State University (1999)

"Exercise Lite" *

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the following as a means of physical activity:

• "Accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity over the course of most days of the week"

• Incorporating more activity into your daily routine can improve your health status
• Daily activities may include:
• walking stairs (instead of taking the elevator)
• gardening
• raking leaves
• dancing
• mall walking while shopping
• carrying a grocery basket rather than pushing a cart (when applicable)
• parking in the farthest parking spot and walking to the office or store
• carrying or pushing a golf bag instead of taking a cart while golfing
  

• Alternately, 30 minutes of activity may come from planned exercise or recreation*

Facts in Keywords

• More than 60% of US adults do not engage in the recommended amount of activity.
• Approximately 25% of US adults are not active at all.
• A 1993 study concerning causes of death in the US: #1 Tobacco, #2 Lack of exercise/poor diet, #3 Alcohol.
• Chronic disease costs the US $655 Billion in healthcare costs.
• In this year, 1.5 million people will have a heart attack in the US and 500,000 will die.

So...

• Control your health status through a medical checkup before beginning a program.
• Progress slowly in the exercise program.
• Choose primarily activities which engage as large a muscle mass as possible, ie: jogging, cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing, etc.
• Remember, it is not necessary to be exhausted to achieve improvement in physical fitness.
• The training should be accomplished continuously and intermittently.
• The improvement in physical fitness will depend on your initial fitness level.
• It is never too late to start exercising regularly.

Signs and symptoms of inadequate hydration may include:

• Thirst
• Fatigue
• Loss of coordination
• Mental confusion
• Irritability
• Dry skin
• Elevated body temperature
• Diminished urine output

Water, Protein and Fats

Protein and fats: Important, but not your body's top fuel choice
Protein isn't your body's food of choice for fueling exercise, but it does play a role in muscle repair and growth. Most people can easily get the protein they need from such foods as meat, dairy products and nuts, and don't need additional protein supplements.

Fat is an important, although smaller, part of your diet. Fats, as well as carbohydrates, can provide fuel for your muscles during exercise. Try to get most of your fat from unsaturated sources such as nuts, fatty fish or vegetable oils. Avoid fatty foods just before exercising, though. Fats remain in your stomach longer, causing you to feel less comfortable.

Water: Drink plenty to avoid dehydration
Your body uses the water in your blood to carry nutrients such as sugar (glucose) to cells and to remove waste products from the cells. The presence of water in your body ensures that you can safely sustain physical activity. As you exercise, your body produces heat. This heat leaves your body as you perspire, taking with it electrolytes — elements, such as potassium, calcium, sodium and chlorine. If you don't replace the fluid you lose during exercise, your heart rate increases and your temperature rises, putting you at risk of dehydration as well as compromising your workout.

To stay well hydrated during exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you drink eight glasses of water every day and more on days when the temperature and humidity are high.

Drink at least one glass of water before and after your workout and every 10 to 15 minutes during your workout to replace fluid lost in perspiration. Avoid substituting coffee, tea or soda for water, because they often contain caffeine, which acts as a diuretic that causes your body to lose even more water.

Water is generally the best way to replace lost fluid, unless you're exercising for more than 60 minutes. In that case, sip a sports drink to help maintain your electrolyte balance and give you a bit more energy from the carbohydrates in it. The sodium in sports drinks also helps you rehydrate more quickly.

What to eat: Getting the right fuel for your best performance

Food provides your body with necessary energy. To make the most of your workouts, focus on:

Carbohydrates: Your body's chief source of fuel

You'll feel better when you exercise if you eat foods high in carbohydrates and low in fat. Your body stores excess carbohydrates as glycogen — primarily in your muscles and liver. Your muscles use stored glycogen when needed for energy.

Cereals, breads, vegetables, pasta, rice and fruit are good sources of carbohydrate. But right before an intense workout, avoid carbohydrates high in fiber, such as beans and lentils, bran cereals and fruit. High-fiber foods may give you gas or cause cramping. Fructose, a simple sugar found in fruit, can increase the tendency for diarrhea with high-intensity exercise.

If you don't like to eat solid foods before exercising, drink your carbohydrates in sports beverages or fruit juices. "Research shows it makes no difference in performance whether you drink your carbohydrates or eat them," says DeBoer. Do what feels best to you.

A diet containing at least 40 percent to 50 percent of calories from carbohydrates allows your body to store glycogen, but if you're a long-distance runner or you exercise for long periods of time, you might want to consume more carbohydrates regularly and consider carbohydrate loading before a big athletic event.

To get the most from your workout, follow these guidelines:

• Eat a full breakfast. Wake up early enough to eat a full breakfast. "Most of the energy you got from dinner last night is used up by morning," says DeBoer. "Your blood sugar is low. If you don't eat, you may feel sluggish or lightheaded while exercising." If you plan to exercise within an hour after breakfast, eat a smaller breakfast or drink something to raise your blood sugar, such as a sports drink.

• Time your meals. Eat large meals at least three to four hours before exercising. If you're having a small meal, eat two to three hours before exercising.

  Most people can eat snacks right before and during exercise. The key is how you feel. Some people feel lightheaded during the first 10 to 15 minutes of their workout if they eat within the hour before exercise. Do what works best for you.

• Don't skip meals. Skipping meals may cause low blood sugar, which can make you feel weak and lightheaded. If you're short on time before your workout, and your choice is candy or nothing, eat the candy because it can improve your performance, compared with eating nothing. But keep in mind, all candy is high in sugar and low on nutrients, so a snack of yogurt and a banana would be a better choice.
• Eat after your workout. To help your muscles recover and to replace their glycogen stores, eat a meal that contains both protein and carbohydrates within two hours of your exercise session if possible.

Eating and exercise: Time it right to maximize your workout

Knowing when and how much to eat and drink before you exercise can make a big difference in how you feel during and after your workout. Here are some tips.

When you eat and what you eat can affect your performance and the way you feel while you're exercising. Coordinate your meals, snacks and what you drink to make the most of your exercise routine.

Eating a lot before exercise can slow you down

When you exercise after a large meal, you may feel sluggish or have an upset stomach, cramping and diarrhea. That's because your muscles and your digestive system are competing with each other for energy resources.

"Your body can digest food while you're active, but not as well as it can when you're not exercising," notes Stephen DeBoer, a registered dietitian at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. This is partly because your body is trying to do two things requiring blood supply and energy simultaneously — digesting the food you just ate and providing fuel to keep your muscles active.

Time it right: Before, during and after your workout

On the flip side, not eating before you exercise can be just as bad as eating too much. Low blood sugar levels that result from not eating can make you feel weak, faint or tired, and your mental abilities may be affected as well, making you slower to react. So what can you do?

Red-line Zone *

The last training zone is called the Redline Zone, which is 90-100% of your max HR. Remember, training at 100% is your maximum heart rate (maximum HR), your heart rate will not get any higher. This zone burns the highest total number of calories and the lowest percentage of fat calories. Ninety percent of the calories burned here are carbohydrates, only 10% are fats and again less than one percent is protein. This zone is so intense that very few people can actually stay in this zone for the minimum 20 minutes, or even five minutes (you should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so). Usually, people use this zone for interval training. For example, one might do three minutes in the Aerobic Zone and then one minute in this Redline Zone and then back to the Aerobic Zone (this is called interval training and will be discussed further in a future article).

I hope you have found the information in this article helpful. You now have the knowledge to achieve the results you desire and the benefits your body deserves.

Your greatest challenge, however, is not learning new cardiovascular exercises or the proper technique; it's not learning the heart rate zone to train at for your goals and interests or how to monitor the intensity. Nor is it deciding when to try new cardiovascular exercises. The greatest challenge facing you at this moment is deciding whether you are willing to take action and make time for yourself and make cardiovascular exercise a priority.

When you begin achieving great results, the excitement and fun you experience will make the change well worth the effort. Action creates motivation! Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of an effective cardiovascular exercise program.

* By Chad Tackett, president of GHF

Fitness Zone *

The next zone is the Fitness Zone, which is 60-70% of your max HR. Once again, 85% of your calories burned in this zone are fats, 5% are proteins and 10% are carbohydrates. Studies have shown that in this zone you can condition your fat mobilization (getting fat out of your cells) while conditioning your fat transportation (getting fat to muscles). Thus, in this zone, you are training your fat cells to increase the rate of fat release and training your muscles to burn fat. Therefore, the benefits of this zone are not only the same as the healthy heart zone training at 50-60% but you are now slightly increasing the total number of calories burned and provide a little more cardiorespiratory benefits. You burn more total calories at this zone simply because it is more intense.

Aerobic Zone

The third zone, the Aerobic Zone, requires that you train at 70-80% of your max HR. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. In this zone, your functional capacity will greatly improve and you can expect to increase the number and size of blood vessels, increase vital capacity and respiratory rate and achieve increases in pulmonary ventilation, as well as increases in arterial venous oxygen. Moreover, stroke volume (amount of blood pumped per heart beat) will increase, and your resting heart rate will decrease. What does all this mean? It means that your cardiovascular and respiratory system will improve and you will increase the size and strength of your heart. In this zone, 50% of calories burned are from carbohydrates, 50% are from fat and less than 1% is from protein. And, because there is an increase in intensity, there is also an increase in the total number of calories burned.

Anaerobic Zone

The next training zone is called the Threshold or Anaerobic zone, which is 80-90% of your max HR. Benefits include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. Since the intensity is high, more calories will be burned than within the other three zones. Although more calories are burned in this zone, 85% of the calories burned are from carbohydrates, 15% from fat and less than 1% are from protein.

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Heart Zone Training *

How do you know if you are training too intensely or not intensely enough for what you want to achieve? This is where Heart Zone Training comes in. Refer to the chart below. The top of the chart reads "Maximum Heart Rate," which is 100% of your heart rate (the fastest your heart will beat). This is different for everyone. To use Heart Zone Training you must first determine your maximum heart rate (max HR).

You can determine your max HR one of two ways. One way is to use the age predicted max HR formula, whereby you subtract your age from 220. So, if you are 40 years old, your predicted max HR would be 180 bpm. The other method, which is much more accurate and more individualized, is actually having a medical or fitness professional administer a max HR test for you, which is usually done on a stationery bicycle or treadmill for several minutes and requires very hard work. Thus, only those cleared by a physician should do this test. We do not explain how to administer this test because only trained professionals should do so. Please refer to the Global Health and Fitness Personal Training Directory for professionals in your area (may or may not be trained in administering a max HR test).

Once you have determined your max HR, you will need to decide what zone you want to train at. There are five different training zones separated by 10% increments, each having different characteristics and benefits.

Healthy Heart Zone

The first zone is called the Healthy Heart Zone. This is 50-60% of your max HR. This is the easiest and most comfortable zone within which to train and is the one that is best for people who are just starting an exercise program or have low functional capacity. Those of you who are walkers most likely train at this zone. Although this zone has been criticized for not burning enough total calories, and for not being intense enough to get great cardiorespiratory benefits, it has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. In this zone, 10% of carbohydrates are "burned" (used as energy), 5% of protein is burned and a whopping 85% of fat is burned.

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Cardiovascular Exercise Principles and Guidelines: Part Two *

For maximum effectiveness and safety, cardiovascular exercise has specific instructions on the frequency, duration, and intensity. These are the three important components of cardiovascular exercise that you really need to understand and implement in your program. In addition, your cardiovascular program should include a warm-up, a cool-down, and stretching of the primary muscles used in the exercise. The last article, part one of this two part series, explained the proper methods of warming-up, stretching, and cooling-down and discussed the frequency and duration of a sound cardiovascular routine.

You learned that cardiovascular exercise should be done a minimum of three times a week, a minimum of 20 minutes per session and should be done after a 5-10 minute warm-up (at a low intensity of 50-60% of max HR) and a 5-10 minute cool-down (at a low intensity of 50-60% of max HR) should follow. Once your muscles are warm (after warm up) and after the cardiovascular exercise, you should stretch those muscles used in the exercise.

This article, part two, discusses how to monitor exercise intensity and heart zone training.

There are several ways to monitor the exercise intensity. The best way to test the intensity is to take your heart rate during the exercise, within the first 5 minutes of your cardiovascular exercise session and again just before the cool-down.

There are two ways in which you can check your heart rate during exercise. The most accurate one is to purchase a heart-rate monitor that you strap around your chest. It will give you feedback on a digital watch that tells you exactly what your heart rate is at a specific time in the exercise session. The other way to obtain your heart rate is by palpating (feeling) either the carotid artery, the temporal artery, or the radial artery. The easiest site is either the cartoid or the radial artery. The cartoid artery may be felt by gently placing your index finger on your neck, between the middle of your collar bone and jaw line. Palpating the radial artery is done by placing your index and middle finger on the underside and thumb-side of your wrist.

When you're taking your heart rate you measure it in beats per minute (counting the number of beats for 60 seconds). For convenience, many people take their pulse for 6 seconds and multiply that number by 10, or simply add a 0 behind the number just obtained. So, if in 6 seconds you counted 12 beats, that would mean your heart rate was 120 beats per minute (bpm). Although counting for 6 seconds is most convenient, keep in mind that the longer the time interval used, the more accurate the results will be. For example, counting your heart rate for 30 seconds and then multiplying that number by 2 will give a slightly more accurate reading than counting your heart rate for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4, or 10 seconds and multiplying by 6. What ever time interval you use, be consistent.

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Duration of Exercise *

The second component of cardiovascular exercise is the duration, which refers to the time you've spent exercising. The cardiovascular session, not including the warm-up and cool-down, should vary from 20-60 minutes to gain significant cardiorespiratory and fat burning-benefits. Each time you do your cardiovascular exercise, try to do at least 20 minutes or more. Of course, the longer you go, the more calories and fat you'll "burn" and the better you'll condition your cardiovascular system. All beginners, especially those who are out of shape, should take a very conservative approach and train at relatively low intensities (50-70% max HR) for 10-25 minutes. As you get in better shape, you can gradually increase the duration of time you exercise.

It is important that you gradually increase the duration before you increase the intensity. That is, when beginning a walking program for example, be more concerned with increasing the number of minutes of the exercise session before you increase the intensity, by increasing your speed or by walking hilly terrain.

Please check back for Part Two, where I'll discuss how to monitor your training intensity and how to use heart zone training to achieve the specific results you desire. Until then, remember that cardiovascular exercise should be done a minimum of three times a week and a minimum of 20 minutes per session. Once your muscles are warm (after warm up) and after the cardiovascular exercise, you should stretch those muscles used in the exercise. For example, after bicycling, stretch your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, hips, and low back. After doing the rowing machine, stretch your legs, back, biceps, and shoulders. Good luck and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of cardiovascular exercise.

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Cardiovascular Exercise Principles and Guidelines: Part One *

For maximum effectiveness and safety, cardiovascular exercise has specific instructions on the frequency, duration, and intensity. These are the three important components of cardiovascular exercise that you really need to understand and implement in your program. In addition, your cardiovascular program should include a warm-up, a cool-down, and stretching of the primary muscles used in the exercise. This article is part one of a two part series discussing the very important principles and guidelines of a safe and effective cardiovascular exercise program. Part one will explain the proper methods of warming-up, stretching, and cooling-down and discuss the frequency and duration of a sound cardiovascular routine. Part two will discuss how to monitor exercise intensity and heart zone training.

Warming Up and Stretching
One very common mistake is stretching before muscles are warmed-up. It is important to stretch after your muscles are warm (after blood has circulated through them). Never stretch a cold muscle. First warm up. A warm-up should be done for at least 5-10 minutes at a low intensity. Usually, the warm-up is done by doing the same activity as the cardiovascular workout but at an intensity of 50-60% of maximum heart rate (max HR). After you've warmed-up for 5-10 minutes at a relatively low intensity, your muscles should be warm. To prevent injury and to improve your performance, you should stretch the primary muscles used in the warm up before proceeding to the cardiovascular exercise.

Cooling Down
The cool down is similar to the warm-up in that it should last 5-10 minutes and be done at a low intensity (50-60% of max HR). After you have completed your cardiovascular exercise and cooled-down properly, it is now important that you stretch the primary muscles being used. Warming-up, stretching, and cooling-down are very important to every exercise session. They not only help your performance levels and produce better results, they also drastically decrease your risk of injury.

Frequency of Exercise
The first component of cardiovascular exercise is frequency of the exercise, which refers to the number of exercise sessions per week. To improve both cardiovascular fitness and to decrease body fat or maintain body fat at optimum levels, you should exercise (cardiovascularly) at least three days a week. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends three to five days a week for most cardiovascular programs. Those of you who are very out of shape and/or who are overweight and doing weight-bearing cardiovascular exercise such as an aerobics class or jogging, might want to have at least 36 to 48 hours of rest between workouts to prevent an injury and to promote adequate bone and joint stress recovery.

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