How Much Movement Do I Need?
We’ve been told for decades that we need to keep moving. That we should be getting lots of physical activity each week. With the payoff being reduced risk of heart disease, improved blood pressure, better cholesterol, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, reduced risk of cancer, a reduction in the risk of falls, the list goes on and on. Sounds like a great investment in our health, but some questions remain.
How much is enough?
While there is no hard and fast rule, the general consensus is 150 minutes a week. So 30 minutes five times a week or 50 minutes three times a week. Of course if you're new to this kind of work you might want to start with just 10 or 20 minutes a few times a week and work your way up - the last thing we want to do is set ourselves back with an injury from doing too much too fast.
But when we talk about "how much," we're really discussing exercise volume. Volume is a combination of three factors: duration (how long you exercise), frequency (how often you exercise), and intensity (how hard you work during exercise). While all three are important, intensity is often the most overlooked yet crucial aspect of effective exercise. This leads us to another important question in the "how much" equation.
How Intense Is Enough?
If I go for a walk around the park with a friend, is that enough?
To determine if your activity is intense enough, we can use something called the 'talk test'. Here's how it works:
If you can chat easily without any breathlessness, you're probably not working hard enough. Try picking up the pace.
If you're breathing hard enough that you can hold a conversation, but any harder and you wouldn’t be able to, you're in the sweet spot. This is your target intensity.
If you're breathing so hard that you can barely get a word out, you're working too intensely. Slow down a bit.
This sweet spot of moderate intensity is what experts call Zone 2 exercise. It's where you're challenging your heart and lungs to a moderate level - a level you could continue doing for 20-45 minutes.
A common way of measuring whether you’re in Zone 2 is to monitor your heart rate and keep it between 60% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. There are many formulas to find your maximum heart rate, I think the following is one of the most accurate.
Maximum Heart Rate = 207 - (0.7 x age)
Here’s a chart of various ages and MHR’s
Age MHR (in beats per minute)
40 180
45 177
50 173
55 170
60 166
65 163
70 159
To now calculate our Zone 2 heart rate range we have to multiply each MHR by 60% to 70%
Age Zone 2 Range (60-70% of MHR - in beats per minute)
40 108-126
45 106- 124
50 104-121
55 102-1119
60 100-116
65 98-121
70 95-111
So go for a walk with a friend or strap on that Apple Watch and keep an eye on your heart rate as you walk, run, bike, hike, or treadmill. Whatever you choose to do that you can be consistent with and that keeps your heart rate in zone 2 for an extended period without taking a break.