"What Type of Exercise Should I Do?"

People often ask what the best type of workout is: weight training, running, swimming, biking, walking, circuit training, etc. The best answer I’ve heard is, “the one you’ll stick with.” That answer can feel vague and like the question wasn’t taken seriously, but really, for general purposes it’s the best answer. Of course, there are specific types of exercise programs for certain objectives. Also, people have individual tendencies based on muscle shape and fiber type ratios. For example, some people have more “fast twitch” muscle fibers than “slow twitch.” Those people will be better at heavy weight training or sprinting than cross-country running and other types of endurance training. The opposite is true for people with a higher percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers. That’s one reason different people excel in different types of sports. A person’s individual body type has a huge influence on what the best type of exercise is for him or her.

Quite a bit of science goes into making the best of an athlete’s body type to perfect his or her performance, but it doesn’t have to be complicated for the average person. We need a good balance of muscle and cardiovascular strengthening. It’s not difficult to get both, even if you enjoy one more than the other.

I’m definitely not a runner. The long distance endurance stuff is not my thing. There are, however, plenty of cardio options for me that I enjoy. Aerobics-type classes, like Zumba and kick boxing give me a great cardiovascular workout with varying levels of intensity and high energy music that keeps my motivation high. When I can’t make it to a class, I do interval training on the treadmill. For muscular strength training, I keep things interesting by mixing up exercises and muscle groups on different days.

Here is an example of the interval training workout I did on the treadmill tonight:

3 min. warm-up

2 min. 5.5 incline; 3.6 speed

1 min. 5.5 incline; 4.0 speed

1 min. 5.5 incline; 3.6 speed

1 min. 0 incline; 7.0 speed (sprint)

1 min. 5.5 incline; 3.6 speed

1 min. 5.5 incline; 4.0 speed

1 min. 5.5 incline; 3.6 speed

1 min. 0 incline; 7.0 speed (sprint)

Repeat these intervals for a total of 30 minutes. For extra variety, I replaced a couple of the 4.0 speed minutes with jump squats on the floor for a minute.

2 min. cool-down