Did you know that a one hour workout is only 4% of your day? It is important to stay regularly physically active, but that doesn’t mean you have to jump head first into pumping iron. It is important to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory (cardio) exercise per week. Moderate-intensity exercises include activities like brisk walking, yoga, or golf. Another option is doing 20-60 minutes, three times a week of vigorous-intensity exercise. Some examples of vigorous intensity would be jogging, playing basketball, and fast bicycling.
Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise, and it consists of anything that increases heart rate and blood circulation through the body for an extended period of time. There are many ways to do it, from jogging to swimming, and biking to jump-roping. Cardio can be done in seven main ways: low intensity and high duration (over 40 minutes), medium intensity and medium duration, high intensity and short duration (5-20 minutes),aerobic interval training (i.e. 3 x 5 minutes hard then 5 minutes easy), anaerobic interval training (i.e. 15 x sprint 30 seconds then walk 30 seconds), fartlek training (i.e. run 10 minutes, then walk 3 minutes, then sprint 30 seconds, then jog for 5 minutes…), and circuit training, which is aerobic weight training and low weights so that you can continuously move between movements. With so much variety to choose from, there should be no problem including cardio into your fitness routine!
The Rec: Your rec membership is included in your tuition, and you can go as many times as you want!
University Recreation Center
205-348-5164
Robert E. Witt Student Activity Center
205-348-7774
The Quad: Get a game of soccer going or even practice yoga. So much room for activities!
The Riverwalk: The Riverwalk has great trails to run, walk, or bike on.
Your House/Res Hall/Apt: There are so many at home work outs that you can do in the comfort of your own home! You can find sample workout plans online or on YouTube.
