What kind of exercises are there

Exercise falls into 5 main categories: Aerobic Aerobic exercise is the kind that makes you breathe harder and builds your fitness up. Strength building From the age of 30, people can lose up to eight per cent of their muscle strength every decade. Balance Training Some exercise helps improve your balance by helping you build up core strength. Endurance You can improve your endurance by doing an activity for increasing periods of time.

Exercise can be done at different levels of intensity, that is how hard you work. Moderate intensity exercise We refer to moderate exercise as any activity that increases your breathing rate slightly and makes you a bit warmer and your heart beat slightly faster. Vigorous exercise Vigorous or high intensity exercise is the kind that gets you sweaty and out of breath, for example running or playing sport. Learn about the four types of exercises and how they can benefit you.

Each one has different benefits. Doing one kind also can improve your ability to do the others, and variety helps reduce boredom and risk of injury. No matter your age, you can find activities that meet your fitness level and needs! Endurance activities , often referred to as aerobic, increase your breathing and heart rates. These activities help keep you healthy, improve your fitness, and help you perform the tasks you need to do every day. Endurance exercises improve the health of your heart , lungs, and circulatory system.

They also can delay or prevent many diseases that are common in older adults such as diabetes , colon and breast cancers, heart disease , and others. Physical activities that build endurance include:.

Build up to at least minutes of activity a week that makes you breathe hard. Try to be active throughout your day to reach this goal and avoid sitting for long periods of time. Your muscular strength can make a big difference. Strong muscles help you stay independent and make everyday activities feel easier, like getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, and carrying groceries.

Keeping your muscles strong can help with your balance and prevent falls and fall-related injuries. Some examples of strength training include:. This is important because range of motion is often limited by things like arthritis. Here are some ways to improve your flexibility:. Here are some good balance exercises:. Learn about the four different types of exercise. Grab a light to moderate dumbbell to complete this move.

An exercise we love to hate, burpees are a super effective whole-body move that provides great bang for your buck for cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength. Planks are an effective way to target both your abdominal muscles and your whole body. Planking stabilizes your core without straining your back the way situps or crunches might.

If you notice yourself breezing through and barely breaking a sweat, focus on progressive overload by making each move more challenging by:. Another way to switch it up? Turn the routine into a time-under-tension workout, completing each move for a set amount of time instead of for a set number of reps.

Nicole Davis is a Boston-based writer, ACE-certified personal trainer, and health enthusiast who works to help women live stronger, healthier, happier lives.

Her philosophy is to embrace your curves and create your fit — whatever that may be! Follow her on Instagram. This simple 3-step plan can help you lose weight fast.

Read about the 3-step plan, along with other science-backed weight loss tips, here.