Don't make these 4 mistakes when exercising: 3 keys to effective exercise

In recent years, the number of people in Taiwan who are crazy about exercise has continued to rise. The purpose of exercise is nothing more than pursuing a healthy lifestyle or losing weight. However, most people have four misconceptions about exercise, which leads to ineffective weight loss or frequent cases of sports injuries. Rehabilitation doctors say that healthy exercise should grasp the three key points of "effective exercise heart rate", "segmented exercise", and "30 minutes of exercise every day".

Road running is popular in China, but doctors say that most people have wrong ideas about exercise, and end up hurting themselves instead of pursuing health.

Lin Songkai, deputy director of the Sports Medicine Center of Linxin Hospital and a rehabilitation physician, said that the general public generally has four major misconceptions: the longer the exercise time, the better; the faster the speed, the better; the longer the distance, the better; and the more muscle soreness, the better. As a result, exercise behaviors that were originally intended to pursue health have become invisible killers of health risks, easily causing damage to cardiopulmonary function and muscles, and increasing the risk of heart disease and sports injuries.

【4 Misconceptions about Exercise】

1.The longer the better?

Take road running as an example. If you continue to exercise intensely for more than an hour under the scorching sun in the hot summer without proper pacing, it can easily cause great harm to your body.

2.The faster the better?

Many people speed up and rush to break their personal records, but if the speed exceeds 10 kilometers without pacing, it is easy to cause sports injuries. Generally speaking, if you find that you are out of breath than usual when running, or even have symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, and lightheadedness, it means that your running speed is too fast, and you should make adjustments as soon as possible to reduce the risk of harm to your body.

3.The longer the distance, the better?

Generally speaking, 10 kilometers is a standard distance for road running. Exceeding this distance is likely to cause sports injuries. However, in reality, the safe distance varies depending on personal exercise habits, physical fitness, age, gender and other factors. The most important thing is to compare yourself with yourself. If you feel inexplicably tired or have palpitations when increasing your running distance, it means that you have suddenly increased your running distance too much.

Exercise heart rate reaches more than 60% of the individual's maximum heart rate to be considered effective exercise. Currently, there is a sports APP that can test the individual's maximum heart rate as a reference for exercise pace.

4. The more sore the muscles, the better?

Taking yoga, which emphasizes muscle stretching, as an example, clinical studies have found that many people ignore the information brought by soreness, believing that it is normal for muscles to be stretched to the point of feeling soreness, and they insist on bending at angles or performing movements that exceed what their bodies can bear. In fact, if the body experiences an acceptable feeling of soreness, it is fine, but if it is accompanied by pain, you should be aware that sports injuries may have already occurred.

In addition, muscle soreness after exercise is a common phenomenon. If it is delayed soreness caused by metabolites stimulating the nerves, it will automatically decrease and disappear within 24 to 48 hours. In principle, there is no need to worry too much. However, if the soreness after exercise persists for more than 48 hours, or the soreness is accompanied by weakness, paralysis, and changes in walking pace, it means that the muscles have been injured, which is a typical sports injury.

Three essential keys to a new concept of effective exercise

Dr. Lin Songkai said that in pursuit of health, exercise does not necessarily require a set period of exercise. Busy people can use their spare time every day to do 10 to 15 minutes of activity, (1) accumulating 30 minutes a day; (2) accumulating 150 minutes of segmented exercise a week; and more importantly, (3) the heart rate of each exercise must reach more than 60% of the individual's maximum heart rate to be considered an effective exercise heart rate. (Formula: Maximum heart rate for adults = 220 - actual age.)

Many people often confuse "heart rhythm" and "heart rate". Dr. Lin Songkai explained that "heart rhythm" refers to the regularity of heartbeat, fast, slow or chaotic. Irregular heartbeat may endanger health; "heart rate" refers to the rate of heartbeat. Long-term cultivation of effective exercise heart rate and exercise habits can increase the strength and thickness of the myocardium, allowing the heart to transport blood with fewer beats at normal times, slowing heart wear and tear. At the same time, it can strengthen cardiopulmonary function and improve muscle endurance, reducing the occurrence of heart disease and sports injuries.