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Exercise Perscription for Aerobic Fitness

When designing an aerobic fitness program the components of the program (type of exercise, frequency, intensity, and time) and the progression that will lead to improved fitness need to be considered. Doing aerobic activities leads to aerobic fitness. Aerobic activities, activities that are rhythmic or dynamic in nature and use large muscle groups, require you to take in and utilize large amounts of oxygen for an extended period of time. Cycling, rowing, walking, running, aerobic dance, bench aerobics, kickboxing, and swimming are just a few examples. For overall aerobic fitness these activities will all provide similar benefits, assuming they’re done with the same intensity and duration. Choose activities that you enjoy doing and that you will do. There are also games such as handball, racquetball, soccer, and basketball that are aerobic in nature, but are intermittent. You normally need to do these game activities twice as long as continuous activities to get the same benefit.

An optimal aerobic exercise program involves the appropriate integration of Frequency, Intensity, and Time—FIT.

Intensity is probably the most important factor in achieving aerobic fitness. Technically, aerobic exercise intensity is measured as a percentage of maximal oxygen uptake. Since your oxygen uptake is not measured during a normal workout, you can use indirect measures to monitor your exercise intensity. Heart rate and Rating of Perceived Exertion are the two most common measures used. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends an intensity of 65 – 95% of maximum heart rate or a Rating of Perceived Exertion of “somewhat hard” to ‘hard.” Less fit and beginner exercisers should train at the lower end of this recommended range while higher fit people should do at least some of their training at the upper end of the range. To determine your exercise heart rate, you need to know your maximum heart rate. There are equations to estimate your maximum heart rate, but we don’t recommend them because they can be very inaccurate. We recommend a maximal aerobic fitness test or a self-test to determine your maximal heart rate.

Ideally, you should do aerobic exercise 3 – 5 times per week for 20 – 60 minutes per exercise session. The Frequency, Intensity, and Time are interrelated. For example, if you walk at the same intensity (speed), 60 min three days a week (180 min of total walking) equals 26 min five days a week (180 min total walking). Or, if you exercise at a lower intensity you will need to exercise longer to achieve the same benefits of a higher intensity workout.

The key to the aerobic exercise program is the FIT product—F x I x T—which is caloric expenditure. The initial goal should be 1,000 calories per week. This would be equivalent to ~325 calories per workout in a three day a week program or 200 calories a workout in a five day a week program. Building up to 2,000 – 2,800 calories per week will bring even more benefits.

Progression refers to the rate at which you increase your FIT. Your rate of progression depends on your fitness level (higher fit people can progress faster), medical and health status, age (adaptations take longer to happen in older people, so older individuals need to progress slower), goals, and how well you are tolerating your current program. Increases in frequency and duration are normally made first. After the frequency/duration targets are met, intensity is increased by 5%HRmax every two weeks. Here’s how the American College of Sports Medicine recommends a sedentary low-risk individual progress. (Adapted from ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 7th edition.)