A patient asked me one day “what is the best exercise to get into shape and be fit?”. They used to be active but with life, work, and family exercise and being active took a side line (sound familiar anyone?). They wanted to get into shape again and were asking their friends what they do; some say yoga is the only way to stay in shape, others said weight training in the gym, others said spin class, others said running, cross fit, Barre class and the list goes on and on!

What is the best exercise? Short answer? There is no such thing as one best exercise.

I think by now everyone knows being active is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. To achieve health benefits, Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend adults aged 18-64 years should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, in bouts of 10 minutes or more. It is also beneficial to add muscle and bone strengthening activities using major muscle groups, at least 2 days per week. Why in the recommendations provided is a specific exercise not recommended?  “Moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity” can be achieved in a million different ways. 

So what is the best exercise for you? 

One that you enjoy! If you don’t enjoy doing the exercise you are less likely to continue doing it. When you exercise you release endorphins which are chemicals produced by the body to relieve stress and pain. Endorphins are what gives people “runners high”, a feeling of euphoria after exercise. However, if you are dreading the workout and miserable throughout it your body will not have the same positive result at the end and your body is less likely to remember the positive effects after making you less likely to do it again. 

One that is easy and realistic for you to do multiple times a week. You might love hiking up mountains but it isn’t realistic to drive 3 hours to the mountains multiple times a week. You might love to do spin classes but the cost of the class multiple times a week or driving the far distance might make it unrealistic. It is ok to do a combination of things during the week, maybe you can drive to the mountains once a month or you can afford spin class once a week and then find something else you can do that you enjoy for the rest of the week. Mixing up what activity you do also has been shown to prevent repetitive injury and make your body overall fitter.  

One that allows you to achieve moderate to vigorous intensity. You might love to walk but if you can easily hold conversation for the entire duration, you are likely not exerting enough. How do you know if you are working hard enough? You could use heart rate zones (using smart watches, heart rate monitors or counting your heart rate) or the simple “talk test”. If you’re doing moderate-intensity activity, you should be breathing harder yet still be able to speak and if you’re doing vigorous-intensity activity, you will not be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

So the best exercise might be very different from person to person and that is OK! Find something that you like and one you can do to achieve 150 mins of moderate to vigorous activity a week. 

What is your favourite exercise or activity?

Kimberly MScPT