The Ultimate Beginner’s Workout Guide to Rock Your Body Right

By The Captain October 27, 2020

Wellness Captain Workout Guide

According to Mayo Clinic, a healthy adult should get at least 20 minutes of physical exercise daily.

But what does ‘exercise’ mean?

How do you know which type of workout works best for your needs? We already know that the same fitness plan can have a very different impact for everyone; we also know that each of us has different endurance levels and physical conditions that affect our performance.

Of course, the most important thing is to set a purpose. If you enjoy running, your goal could be to increase the speed or endurance for each session; in this sense, you can follow training plans used by marathon runners when they first started on this journey.

But what if you want a bit of everything, or you’re not sure what you like the most?

Our guide is going to uncover a series of basic guidelines and professional advice for the two major types of workout: strength and cardio.

Ready… set… let’s go!

Cardio: 2-3 times weekly

Performing cardio sessions (correctly!) is essential for improving all major body functions – and luckily, there are plenty ways of doing it too!

Noam Tamir, CS, founder of TS Fitness in New York City, explains that cardio improves your circulatory system, promotes muscle recovery and creates endurance. This type of sports also increases your VO2 max, which helps your body use oxygen more efficiently.

Unfortunately, I’ve met some people who overlook cardio because they think that ‘running is boring.’ Just to debunk that myth, I’ll list a few effective ways of performing cardio:

Riding the bike
Jumping jacks / squat jumps
Jumping a rope
Kickboxing
Running the stairs

Even dancing is an excellent form of cardio – and if dancing isn’t fun (especially alone at home during lockdown), then I don’t know what is!

How to do it: According to Tamir, an exercise becomes cardiovascular when your heart rate increases past a certain point and the length of the exercise. Ideally, beginners should aim for 120-150 heartbeats per minute for 45-60 minutes plus warm-up and cool-down time.

Alternatively, you can also opt for interval training. This method involves working as hard as possible for a short period of time, take a break for recovery and repeat the process. These basic rules work for any type of cardio workout.