Understanding the Different Types of Exercises

Exercise is an essential part of achieving and maintaining your goal weight. The structured and purposeful activities involved in exercise can help create a calorie deficit, which helps you burn more calories than you consume. This is a key strategy for weight loss.

Getting optimal results from your time and effort depends on choosing the type of exercise that’s right for your physical abilities, medical condition, and overall goals. Consulting a weight-loss professional can ensure that your individualized fitness plan is achievable and safe.

Our team at NuvidaRx Weight Loss in Tallahassee, Florida, can guide you in choosing the type of exercise that aligns with your goals and overall condition. With an individualized fitness plan, you’ll learn how to combine different types of movement to help you achieve your target weight and elevate your overall fitness for long-term benefits.

Using a variety of exercise strategies can help you stay motivated and avoid boredom. While your individual plan is based on your physical condition and medical history, most individuals can benefit from incorporating these four types of exercise into their fitness plans.

Strength training

Strength training, also called resistance or weight training, improves muscular strength and prevents bone loss by exercising a targeted muscle or muscle group against external resistance. While strength training can involve the use of equipment for resistance, you can also achieve benefits by using your own body weight.

Since lean muscle burns more calories than other types of tissue, strength training can support your weight-loss goals. This type of exercise can also increase bone density to prevent bone loss, prevent the natural loss of lean muscle mass from aging, and increase muscle strength for everyday activities.

Examples of strength training include:

Using free weights, like barbells, kettlebells, or dumbbells
Exercising with resistance bands
Using your body weight for resistance in leg squats, crunches, push-ups, or pull-ups
Climbing stairs or an incline
Using weight machines

For adults, the recommended amount of physical activity includes two or more days of strength exercises weekly, using movements that work all major muscle groups, including hips, legs, abdomen, back, shoulders, chest, and arms.

Flexibility exercises

Flexibility exercises, also called stretching exercises, stretch your muscles and work to improve your range of motion. Using these movements several times every week can help keep your muscles relaxed and help your joints move freely, which can lower your risk of injuries during all types of exercise and physical activity.

Flexibility exercises include dynamic stretching and static stretching. Dynamic stretching involves actively preparing or warming up your muscles and joints for an activity or movement. Status stretching involves moving a joint to its limit and holding it for between 30 and 90 seconds, often to relax and loosen the muscles you’ve used during a workout.

Examples of stretching exercises include:

Hip circles
Walking lunges
Arm circles
Hamstring stretch
Calf stretch

Aerobic exercises

Aerobic exercise, also called cardio exercise, stimulates your cardiovascular system by using the continuous rhythmic movement of large muscle groups to elevate your breathing and heart rates. During this type of exercise, your muscles require more oxygen-rich blood, forcing your heart to beat faster to meet the demand.

While aerobic exercise can help you lose weight by increasing the number of calories you burn, it can also help build stronger bones and improve muscle strength. Aerobic exercise can also help you avoid chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

There are three types of aerobic exercise: no impact (cycling), low impact (walking), and high impact (running). The ideal amount of physical activity for adults includes a weekly goal of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity.

Examples of aerobic exercises include:

Spinning
Running and brisk walking
Aerobics classes
Cardio exercise machines such as an elliptical trainer
Swimming

Balance exercises

Balance exercises improve your ability to stabilize and control your body’s upright position. These movements improve coordination and strength, which support your ability to move.

These exercises can be helpful at the beginning of your weight-loss journey if your excess weight isn’t distributed evenly throughout your body and is causing you to move awkwardly. Developing stable ankles, knees, legs, and hips can prevent injuries during all types of movement so you can continue to exercise and stay physically active.

Examples of balance exercises include:

Standing on one foot at a time
Walking heel to toe
Side leg raises
Yoga
Tai Chi

Find out more about different types of exercise and how you can combine them to support weight loss and improve fitness. Request an appointment online or call our office today at 850-765-2549.