When you hear “pain” and “exercise” in the same sentence, you probably think one of two things: “Heck, no!” or “Bring it on!” What comes to my mind? A bodybuilder grunting while heaving plates that are way too heavy or a runner wheezing on a treadmill set way out of their comfort zone. To be quite honest, I cringe when I hear that pain is required for exercise to be effective. Why in the world would I want to inflict pain on myself, especially when I enjoy exercise? Maybe you can relate.
This is an important topic for us to tackle because there are a lot of mixed messages about what it takes to see results from exercise. What really are the facts regarding exercise intensity?
“好”疼痛与“坏”疼痛
尽管某些不适的不适可以表明运动强度，但疼痛并不总是意味着收获，这就是原因。首先，让我澄清“好”和“坏”运动疼痛之间的非常重要的区别。
“Good” pain is the slight muscle soreness in areas that you targeted during your previous workout. This discomfort likely means that your body is being challenged. This is a very positive feeling because exercise shouldn’t really be comfortable if you expect results. For exercise to be impactful — that is, to create a healthier heart and improve body composition — it should be challenging.
On the other hand, “bad” pain means that you’re hurting your body instead of helping it. Examples of bad pain include a pulled muscle, achy joints or pain that increases over time. Check out运动过程中“好”和“坏”疼痛之间的区别to learn more. As a beginner to exercise, it may be hard to tell the difference, so go see a doctor if you regularly experience significant pain while exercising.
What It Takes to Challenge and Change the Body
TheCenters for Disease Control and Preventionrecommends the following quantity and quality of exercise each week:
- 150分钟的中等强度有氧运动和每周至少2天的力量训练或者
- 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise and at least 2 days of strength training per week或者
- 中等强度和剧烈强度运动和每周2天的力量训练的等效混合物。
You may be sweating just looking at this list. If you run a tight schedule, you understand how hard it is to juggle time for family, chores, sleep和exercise. Rest assured. Research has found that doing three 10-minute bouts of exercise confers the same benefits as doing one 30-minute session. Be an opportunist with your time, and actively look for small bouts of free time during the day where you can sneak in exercise (e.g. walking your dog, taking a walking meeting, parking really far from the grocery store).
If you’re more time-crunched and can’t sneak in daily exercise, then the quality, or intensity, of your exercise is evenmore重要的。每分钟必须进行锻炼，并在最短建议的时间内努力达到中度至剧烈的强度水平。
实现结果的一种有效方法是通过间隔训练，有时称为高强度间隔训练。HIIT的特征是剧烈强度运动（10秒至几分钟），然后进行较低强度的运动或休息时间。Research已经表明，间隔训练可能更有效地改善心血管健身和减少体内脂肪比以中等强度进行的持续运动。因此，如果您的时间不足，那么快速的间隔锻炼可能是您真正推动身体并获得最大收益的最佳利用。尝试进行1分钟更高速度的跑步机间隔锻炼，然后步行30秒。如果您正在举重训练，请在场景中努力工作，增加心率。然后，仅在两组之间休息30秒。
How to Figure Out Exercise Intensity
Because everyone is at a different fitness level, an intensity that is hard for you (think: a 5- minute mile pace) may not be for someone else. Instead, use these three simple techniques to gauge your exercise intensity. These tests apply to both cardiovascular and strength training:
1. Heart-Rate Monitoring:通过监视每分钟心跳的数量并将其保持在某些范围内，您可以轻松评估和操纵运动强度。可穿戴心率的监视器使此过程变得如此简单。当您的心率达到最大心率的64-76％，并以最大心率的77-95％达到剧烈强度时，就会达到中等运动强度。当您进入性别，年龄，体重和身高时，大多数可穿戴设备都会为您找出这些范围。有关如何手动确定心率范围的更多信息，请访问CDC website。
2. Perceived Exertion:这是您可以根据您的感知努力（又称努力）的评分量表对自己进行的测试。这是一个主观的量表，因此需要一些练习才能以中等和剧烈的强度找到您的最佳位置。为此，请问自己可以保持多长时间。在非常轻巧的强度下，您应该能够长时间继续活动，呼吸或说话没有问题（思考：悠闲的步行）。如果需要，您应该能够在需要的几个小时内维持活动，并仍然能够进行对话（想想：快速步行，园艺，以少于10英里 /小时的速度骑自行车）。剧烈的活动应挑战您进行对话并大大提高呼吸速度的能力。您应该无法与中等强度相同的时间维持蓬勃的活动（想想：跑步，远足，游泳，高强度的力量训练）。近乎最大的强度锻炼是非常短的努力爆发，通常不会持续一分钟（想想：冲刺，举重最大一次）。
| 运动强度 | 比例等级 |
|---|---|
| Very light | <9 |
| Light intensity | 9-11 |
| Moderate intensity | 12-13 |
| Vigorous intensity | 14-17 |
| Near-maximal intensity | > 18 |
3. Talk Test:您可以用来测量强度的最简单测试是查看锻炼时可以说的多少。在适度的运动中，您应该能够说话，但不能唱歌。在剧烈的强度期间，您应该只能说几句短语才能呼吸。
The answer to our big question here is: No, you don’t have to experience actual疼痛从运动中受益，但是你应该感到挑战。尽管任何运动总比没有运动要好，但您可以通过挑战自己从锻炼中获得更多的锻炼。关键是要努力劳累，但请花些时间注意“不良”疼痛的迹象，以免伤害自己。
