It feels good to push the body to the point of exhaustion. Leaving the gym or a fitness class soaked with sweat is a deeply satisfying manifestation of the endorphins humming around in your brain.
There’s no doubt that an all-out effort is good for your health. But if you’re spending all your time giving 110% to your workouts, you’re missing out on the benefits a more moderate intensity workout could give you.
What’s Considered “Moderate Intensity”?
Elizabeth Bailey, an exercise science professor at Elon University, says that in general, moderate intensity exercise is defined as an exercise intensity of between 64 and 76 percent of your heart rate maximum.
“Using perceived exertion on a scale from zero to 10, with zero being no effort and 10 being the hardest physical activity you’ve ever done, moderate intensity exercise is about a five or a six. You should be able to still hold a conversation while doing it,” Bailey says.
“Intensity is really just defined by how hard your muscles need to work relative to their maximum capacity,” says Dominic Angelino, CPT, an exercise scientist and personal trainer at Trainer Academy. While different exercise zones are typically talked about in the context of cardio-based exercises, Angelino says they can be applied to weight lifting too. “Most weight training exercises can be performed at any intensity, with the difference being based on how much weight you’re using. If you’re using a weight that only allows you to complete five reps, it is a high intensity set because the weight you’re lifting is near your max capacity. If you do that same exact exercise with a weight that you can complete 12 reps with, it’s a moderate intensity set because your muscles aren’t working near their max capacity,” he explains.
Jason Boynton, PhD, an exercise scientist and cycling coach, says that most workouts are a mix of different intensity levels; it would be rare to stay in one “zone” throughout the entirety of your workout. “Exercise intensity is a flowing spectrum. It is a lot like temperature," he says. "Temperature is a continuum, but we understand there are regions on that continuum that are hot, temperate, and cold. Similarly, exercise intensity is categorized into domains: extreme, severe, heavy, and moderate.”
Dr. Boynton says that all levels of exercise intensity (including low-intensity or active recovery) are beneficial. But, he says, if you approach every workout with the mindset that you’re going to give an all-out effort the entire time, your performance and wellbeing are going to suffer: “Chronic exercise at high intensities increases your risk of maladaptation. For example, the more intense an exercise gets, the more you are engaging type II muscle fibers [fast twitch muscles, that contract quickly and produce a lot of force for a short period of time] which aren’t as good at recovery as type I muscle fibers [slow twitch muscles, which contract slowly and are used for endurance]. If you are continually engaging type II muscle fibers, you risk not being able to recover and falling into a deeper fatigue—especially if you are doing the same exercise every day, like running, cycling, or swimming.” This is why, he says, the ideal routine has a mix of workouts that focus on exercising in the various intensity domains, and that you take rest days.
Read on for 5 benefits of moderate intensity workouts.
