The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has just released new recommendations on the quantity and quality of exercise for adults, definitively answering the age-old question of how much exercise is actually enough. ACSM’s overall recommendation is for most adults to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. The basic recommendations are categorized by cardiorespiratory exercise, resistance exercise, flexibility exercise and neuromotor exercise.
Check to see how much of which type of exercise is right for you. The new group exercise schedule has done the work for you and made it easy to see what classes fall under which categories. Get your copy of the schedule here www.rec.nova.edu.
Cardiorespiratory Exercise
- Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.
- Exercise recommendations can be met through 30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (five days per week) or 20-60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise (three days per week).
- One continuous session and multiple shorter sessions (of at least 10 minutes) are both acceptable to accumulate desired amount of daily exercise.
- Gradual progression of exercise time, frequency and intensity is recommended for best adherence and least injury risk.
- People unable to meet these minimums can still benefit from some activity.
Cardiorespiratory classes include:
- Aqua Boot Camp
- Dance Party Fusion
- Hip Hop
- 30:30 Cardio Step: Core
- 30:30 Cardio Kick: Core
- Spinning
- Zumba
Resistance Exercise
- Adults should train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment.
- Very light or light intensity is best for older persons or previously sedentary adults starting exercise.
- Two to four sets of each exercise will help adults improve strength and power.
- For each exercise, 8-12 repetitions improve strength and power, 10-15 repetitions improve strength in middle-age and older persons starting exercise, and 15-20 repetitions improve muscular endurance.
- Adults should wait at least 48 hours between resistance training sessions.
Resistance classes include:
- Body Sculpt
- POWER Sculpt
- Butts and Gutts
- Hardcore
- Ripped Abs & Arms
- Upper Body Blast
- Lower Body Blast
Flexibility Exercise
- Adults should do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week
to improve range of motion. - Each stretch should be held for 10-30 seconds to the point of tightness or
slight discomfort. - Repeat each stretch two to four times, accumulating 60 seconds per stretch.
- Static, dynamic, ballistic and PNF stretches are all effective.
- Flexibility exercise is most effective when the muscle is warm. Try light
aerobic activity or a hot bath to warm the muscles before stretching.
Flexibility classes include:
- Pilates
- Yoga Flow
- Zenergy Yoga
- Yoga Stretch
- Relax & Roll-covery
Neuromotor Exercise
Neuromotor exercise (sometimes called “functional fitness training”) is
- recommended for two or three days per week.
- Exercises should involve motor skills (balance, agility, coordination and gait), proprioceptive exercise training and multifaceted activities (tai ji and yoga)
to improve physical function and prevent falls in older adults. - 20-30 minutes per day is appropriate for neuromotor exercise.
Neuromotor classes include:
- Circuit Blast
- FIT
- Fitness Xtreme
- Sunset Interval Run
- Tabata
For more information, please contact Marcela Sandigo pmarcela@nova.edu or (954) 262-7018.