Your First Exercise Lesson

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Which type of exercise should I choose?

1) If you want to improve your cardiovascular fitness or to keep fit, you may have to choose Aerobic Exercise. Do some rhythmic exercises with low intensity, such as jogging, swimming and cycling.

2) If you want to strengthen your muscles, or if you used to have joint injury in the past, you may need Specific Strengthening Exercise. It includes dumbbell, barbell, gym machine, Elastic tubing and aquatic exercise.

The Key of your exercise program - 'The Principle of F.I.T.'

F - Frequency: The ideal exercise frequency is about 3 to 5 sessions per week. If you are a beginner, start to exercise 3 times a week, with 1 to 2 rest days after each session.

I - Intensity: It's critical for the effectiveness of your exercise training. It is usually divided into 4 zones, according to different exercise heart rate (HR).

How to calculate your Exercise HR Zone? Max HR= 220-Age Exercise Intensity= Max HR x Percentage fo Max HR(%)

Zone	Exercise Intensity	Function
A	Max HR x (50-60%)	Burn your body fat
B	Max HR x (60-70%)	Burn your body fat and improve your cardiovascular function
C	Max HR x (70-85%)	Greatly improve your cardiovascular function
D	Max HR x (85-100%)	Zone A, B, C are Aerobic Exercises. Zone D is Anaerobic Exercise

The table shows the four different exercise heart rate zones. You may choose to exercise in the zone according to your own target and your level of fitness. For example, Mr. Wong is having a sedentary living style, and he is planning to lose some weight. He is advised to exercise in Zone A (easier to start), which is to keep his exercise heart rate between 93-112 beats per minute [(220-34) x 50-60%].

To ensure appropriate exercise intensity, you may try the following self-tests.

1) The talk test: It is a subjective measure to determine how hard you are exercising. If you are able to talk during your exercise without too much effort, you are within a safe level of intensity.

2) Rate of Perceived Exertion: Another subjective measure to rate how you feel on a scale from 0 to 20. You should be exercising between 12 (somewhat hard) to 16 (hard).

6	11 fairly light	16
7 very very light	12	17 very hard
8	13 somewhat hard	18
9 light	14	19 very very hard
10	15 hard	20

3) Exercise heart rate: it should be within the suggested range of heart rate in each zone.

How to measure your exercise heart rate? 1) Feel the pulse: Use your index and middle fingers of one hand and find the pulse on the other hand on the underside and thumb-side of your wrist, just above the wrist bone. Count the number of beats for 15 seconds (then multiply by four) to get the number of heartbeat per minute. You should check your pulse about 5 minutes into exercise and 5 minutes before you stop. To do this, you may have to stop exercising. 2) Heart rate monitor: All you need is a sensor, which consists of a sensor strap, which fits around your torso and a wrist monitor. The measurement is more accurate and can be done continuously throughout the exercise.

T - Time: The suggested duration of exercise is around 20-30 minutes (excluding warm-up and cool-down). The length of time can be increased gradually. One hour can be set as your final target.

Conclusion

1) Each exercise session should follow this pattern: Warm up (5-10 minutes) Ñ> Aerobic exercise (20-30 minutes) Ñ> Cool down (5 minutes).

2) Begin exercise for a short time on non-consecutive days, with 1-2 rest day(s) between sessions.

3) Gradually increase your exercise dosage; increase the length of time you exercise before you increase the intensity.

4) If you keep an exercise diary, you may find it useful to maintain your compliance. The diary may also be used as a guideline for the change of exercise dosage in the future.

5) Appropriate exercise gears prevent you from sport injury or overuse syndrome, especially the footwear. Good footwear should be light in weight, made of breathable and anti-slippery material, with proper foot arch support and shock absorption feature on the heel part.

No matter you are a beginner or not, you have to exercise safely according to your own physical ability.

Raymond H C Tsoi, Registered Physiotherapist