Exercise 101

There seems to be three camps when it comes to fitness- those who exercise for the calories burned, those who exercise for fun and those who fall in between. For many people, the main motivation for exercise is weight loss. If you are just starting a workout program, it can be difficult to determine just what kind of exercise will give you the quickest (and safest) results.

High impact and low impact exercise are two different types of physical activities. High impact exercise involves more stress on the joints, muscles and tendons than low impact exercise. During low impact activities, one foot is on the ground at all times, while during high impact exercise both feet can be off the ground, accounting for the greater stress on the body. Some examples of high impact exercise might include aerobics, jump rope and jogging. Lower impact activities might include using exercise machines at a lower intensity (such as treadmills, rowers and elliptical machines) and walking.

When it comes to calories burned in exercise, both high impact and low impact can yield similar results. The key to caloric burn is intensity and duration. Higher impact workouts tend to burn fat more quickly (as a general rule) than lower impact activities. However, low impact activities can burn just as many calories as a high impact workout, if the activity is sustained longer.

If you raise your heart level to a certain point and sustain that activity for twenty minutes or more, you are likely to burn significant calories in exercise. Generally, your body will go into fat burning mode when your heart starts beating around 50% to 75% of your maximum heart rate. There is no exact science that can determine exactly what your target heart rate should be during exercise. Age, overall health, weight and gender are all telling factors. You can visit the American Heart Association to discover what your target heart rate should be during exercise based on age. In theory, your maximum aerobic capacity will decrease as you age, so your target rate should also be less.

Your doctor or fitness professional can assist you in factoring in weight, gender and current health in determining your maximum workout potential.

At times, there are additional considerations when starting a workout program besides calories burned in exercise. Certain physical conditions such as high blood pressure, muscular-skeletal disorders, heart disease and diabetes can affect how you should work out. Diabetes is an extreme example of how exercise can have negative as well as positive affects on the body. Diabetic individuals should take extra care to balance the effects of sugar reducing medication with intense exercise. Since exercise lowers blood sugar, strenuous workouts can cause an extreme dip in blood sugar. During exercise, diabetics should be sure to have beverages or snacks containing natural sugar, should this occur.

As you begin your fitness program, the most important factor to consider is your fitness level, overall health and desire to make a long-term commitment. Calories burned in exercise can have you looking great in the short term, but if your exercise program is unsafe and too intense, serious consequences can abound. A complete physical work-up with your doctor (especially if you are a novice) can help you to evaluate what kinds of activities are suitable for your fitness level and body type.