**No "global" ideal regiment exists, but there are many that are "good enough" for most cases.**  # “The” Ideal Exercise Regiment It depends. 😖 There is no single "global" recommendation that can be made for what amounts of what types of exercises should be taken by _everyone_, because everyone's **goals** and needs are different. That said, you could do worse than the basic recommendations made by our government. [[Huberman's Foundational Fitness Routine]] covers all these bases. This will put you in a position to be [[Health is Vague|healthy]] and maximize your [[Healthspan vs Lifespan|healthspan]]. ## Governmental Recommendations - Adults should **move more and sit less throughout the day.** Avoid [[Chronic Inactivity]]. Some physical activity is better than none. Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous[^1] physical activity gain some health benefits. - For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least: - **150 minutes** to 300 minutes a week of **moderate-intensity** aerobic physical activity (50% - 70% max HR) - or **75 minutes** to 150 minutes a week of **vigorous-intensity aerobic** physical activity (70% - 85% max HR) - or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. - Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread **throughout the week.** - Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of _300 minutes_ of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. - This is an hour a day during the week, a great routine if you can manage it. - Adults should also do **muscle-strengthening activities** of moderate or greater intensity and that involve **all major muscle groups** on **2 or more days a week**, as these activities provide additional health benefit. > [!tldr]+ 💓 TL;DR > Strength train 2+ times/week & do cardio at various levels of intensity such that you’re at: > - 75 minutes at 130-160bpm > - 150 minutes at 90-130bpm Based on [[Heart Rate Zones]] of a ~33 year old. # Variation & Consistency When you do a particular thing a lot, your body adapts to doing that thing well, sometimes at the expense of other things. So if your goal is to be able to do a lot of different things well, you have to do a lot of different things often.  Each of the people in the image above are elite athletes in their own regard. They fall across the big 3 domains of fitness[^1] : strength, endurance, and mobility. The athlete in the center is worse than those around the outside when it comes to their own speciality, but would trounce them when it comes to the other two domains in which they aren’t specialized. That’s not to say he’s “the best”, such a valuation is 100% subjective in accordance with each person’s opinions about what “fit” means and what their goals are. At the end of the day they’re all world-class athletes[^2]. Even within a given domain it’s a good idea to insert variation in your training. Within strength training, don’t just do the same lifts in the same repetition ranges forever. Do some high rep/low weight stuff. Do some low rep/high weight stuff. Do compound, multi-joint lifts. Do isolation exercises. Within cardiovascular conditioning, don’t just go jog the same circuit every day. Do sprints. Do long-haul slow-paced jogs. Do bicycle treks. Do plyometrics. Within flexibility and coordination, don’t just stretch your hamstrings every morning. Do different flexibility programs. Do yoga lead by multiple different instructors of different styles. Do pilates. Do dance and gymnastics. Do sports of all varieties. Most important than specifically _what_ you do, though, is that you do _something_. Something is better than nothing. Take rest days, but don’t take rest _months_. The key is to keep at it. You don’t have to be going forward quickly, just never stop going forward. # Example Weeks Only because I’d be mad if I clicked on an article online with this title and there wasn’t _something_ concrete for me to look at. There’s an infinite number of “right” ways to do it, so this is technically a 0% complete list of them all. --- **Monday** - Starting Strength workout A **Tuesday** - 10 mile bike ride **Wednesday** - Starting Strength workout B **Thursday** - an hour-long yoga class **Friday** - pickup basketball at the gym **Saturday** - Staring Strength workout A **Sunday** - Rest --- **Monday** - Lower body strength **Tuesday** - Plyometrics **Wednesday** - Dynamic mobility exercises **Thursday** - Upper body strength **Friday** - 45 minute dumbbell HIIT routine **Saturday** - Swim 20 laps **Sunday** - Rest --- **Monday** - Dumbbell circuit training **Tuesday** - Rest **Wednesday** - Pull weeds and push the mower **Thursday** - Rest **Friday** - Plyometric circuit training **Saturday** - Take a 30 minute walk, then spend 15 minute stretching **Sunday** - Rest --- These are just _examples_. **I make no claim to be an expert in this arena**. The whole point here is that there is no “one” approach. There’s nearly infinite depth you can take into research and practicing any particular discipline, what you choose to do is what works best for you, leaves you feeling the most energized and happy. If you look good on the beach, that’s a fortunate side effect of living a healthy life. [^1]: I’m using “mobility” as an umbrella term for flexibility & coordination. The whole notion of “3 Dimensions of fitness” is something I’m essentially making up here. From what research I’ve done into the topic there isn’t really a concise, widely-agreed upon list of the different, mutually-orthogonal [[Facets of Fitness]], but that list seems like a valid enough way to draw up the lines. I may write more about this one day. Until then, see that link to my Note in Notion. [^2]: The guy on the bottom is doing something impressive, but isn’t a _“-est man in the world”_, to which the other three men have legitimate claims. Just a note I felt like pointing out. Sorry guy on the bottom. I still find what you’re doing impressive. **** # More ## Source - [[Exercised]] ## Related - [[Chronic Inactivity]] - [[Chronic Low-Level Inflammation]] - [[Obesity, Smoking, & Inactivity]] - [[Balance]] - [[Facets of Fitness]] - [[Anti-inflammatory Behavior]] - [[Ideal Rest Time for Hypertrophy]] - [[~10-15 Sets Per Week]] - [[Minimum Viable Cardio]] - [[Huberman's Foundational Fitness Routine]] - [[Minimalist Weightlifting Training]] [^1]: For the terms "moderate" and "vigorous" it would seem logical to use the appropriate translation in [[Heart Rate Zones]]