Although any physical activity is better than inactivity, different types of fitness training have different effectiveness. The main thing here is perhaps not even the style of training, but the intensity of physical activity on the body.
Perhaps someone thinks that flipping through a couple of fashion magazines in the gym while sitting on a stationary bike is quite enough of a load. However, it is obvious that if a girl’s makeup remains in excellent condition after a workout, the load was hardly sufficient. However, a fresh face is not the only sign of low efficiency of training.
Heart rate
The heart rate, or pulse rate as it is often called, during intense exercise should fluctuate between 75% and 100% of the individual maximum. To determine the acceptable heart rate limit, a healthy person simply subtracts their age from 220.
It is convenient to track the pulse rate with the help of a cardiac monitor, which promptly indicates the state of the load on the heart in real time. If there is no monitor, the frequency should be periodically measured in the “old-fashioned way”, by feeling the pulse on the wrist.
Some people mistakenly consider sweat to be the only indicator of stress. But sweating can be an individual feature of the body, while heart rate most fully reflects the load on the heart.
Conversations
A walk with a friend in the park is a good way to while away the time. But if the goal of the walk or jog is to lose extra pounds, then the body needs to be properly loaded. Under load, frankly speaking, you don’t feel like talking. Exchanging a few words is quite acceptable, but if the workout does not interfere with discussing the latest fashion trends or political events, its intensity is clearly insufficient.
Muscle pain
A good way to check the intensity of your workouts in the gym is to wait a day and listen to how you feel. The load causes microscopic muscle damage, which manifests itself after some time as characteristic mild pain. There is nothing to worry about, on the contrary, the absence of pain indicates insufficient load.
Intensity and variety of exercises
Our body adapts perfectly to loads, as a result of which the effectiveness of the same workouts decreases over time. To maintain it constant, it is necessary to increase the intensity of the workouts. For example, increase the number of repetitions or increase the speed of the exercises.
“Looping” on the same set of exercises can lead to disproportionate muscle development. A runner can benefit from strength training from time to time, just as a weightlifter can benefit from jogging.
Results
Fitness training should bring visible results. This does not mean that you should give up everything if after a week of training you do not see any changes. But with the right training methods and healthy nutrition, physical changes, whether it is a decrease in weight or waist circumference, will definitely occur in a few months. Perhaps the progress will not be as noticeable as you would like, but nevertheless, it will happen. Otherwise, you should review your fitness program.
Be healthy!
