A quarter of the United States population do not engage in any leisure-time physical activity and only 20% engage in regular, sustained leisure-time physical activity. Physical activity is defined as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure”. Exercise is “physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive” for the purpose of maintaining or improving physical fitness”.
When does physical activity become exercise for cardiovascular fitness, and when does regular exercise for cardiovascular fitness become training for cardiovascular fitness?
The American College of Sports Medicine states moderate-intensity physical activity five days a week is considered cardiovascular fitness training. Walking can be considered physical activity for cardiovascular fitness training when it triggers an increase in heart rate that is seventy percent of the age dependent maximum heart rate for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Maximum heart rate is age dependent for persons without heart conditions and is equal to 220 minus ages.
Maximum Heart Rate = 220 minus age
70% of Heart Rate Reserve = (Maximum Heart Rate) x 0.7
Training for cardiovascular fitness in persons without heart conditions can be achieve by attaining 70% of the heart rate reserve, which is moderate exercise, for 30 minutes, five days a week.
For those, like me, or others who don’t want a heart rate monitor device in their lives that might include watches and chest straps, or those, like me, who tend to forget to check heart rate when using a treadmill or stair master the easiest and reliable method to monitor the intensity of exercise is use the Talk Test.
What is the Talk Test for healthy adults?
“An alternative to a subjective rating of perceived exertion is the talk-test. This simple approach allows approximating the first ventilatory threshold by awareness of the intensity of exercise, where ventilation becomes sufficient to make it somewhat difficult to carry on a conversation. Just below this intensity is considered moderate. Above this intensity, when conversation is challenging, the intensity is vigorous. When conversation is impossible, the intensity of exercise is greater than vigorous.”
Read about the Talk Test: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.682233/full
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