Exercise; easy, every day or hard and alternate days ?

How do you work out ? How often ? Every day. For me just about every day is a workout day of some sort but is this the best way. Particularly if Metabolic Syndrome is something that you have to worry about.

The major alternatives are working out fairly easily every day just like Ellen Pompeo of Gray's Anatomy fame. Here she is treating her aerobic exercise pretty cheerfully.

Exercising at a moderate level 5 or more days a week is the present recommendation of the American Heart Association but this new study, albeit small scale and preliminary, puts a question mark against the standard advice.








The alternative is to really get your heart rate up like this guy doing leg exercises with a stool. This is a simple, do anywhere exercise but very strenuous.

This month Circulation, the American Heart Association journal published the early results of a study comparing exercise at 90% of maximum heart rate against exercise at 70% of maximum. They made sure that people in both groups used up the same number of calories on exercise whether they worked out 3 times a week in tough 90% maximum group or the easier 70% group who worked out 5 times a week.

Overall the 90% maximum group working out 3 times a week had a bigger impact metabolic syndrome issues than the easier working group.

The 90% group had a bigger impact on blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, HDL cholesterol and improved ability to exercise.

There might be a downside as pointed out by the American Heart Association: However the added benefits must be weighed against the potential for increased musculoskeletal and cardiovascular complications."

The exercise prescription used in the study for the hard charging 90% group was:

• walk or run uphill on a treadmill
• 40 minutes per session
• 10 minutes warm up to 70% maximum heart rate (this should feel comfortable but only just so)
• 4 hard 'intervals' of 4 minutes each at 90% maximum
• 3 'recovery intervals' of down to 70% in between the hard intervals
• 5 minutes cool down (this is important - do not just stop).