If you’re wondering how to keep your favorite workout going but make it more intense, the “talk test” might be your answer.
Speech testing is a way of measuring the relative intensity of an activity and depends on understanding how physical activity affects heart rate and breathing, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Generally, being able to speak but not sing during an activity would make it moderate intensity, says the CDC. Your voice can be difficult, said physical therapist Nicholas Rolnick, but you can keep a conversation going. “It’s (your) elevated heart rate, but it doesn’t interfere with training,” said Rolnick, who lives in New York.
It’s an easy method of escalating intensity without any complicated fitness technology or software, Rolnick said.
The conversation test can help you “make sure you’re hitting the exercise intensity you want to achieve to meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity.”
This activity may feel like a brisk walk, or 3 miles an hour or faster, but not a brisk walk. Water aerobics, bicycling at less than 10 miles per hour on flat or flat terrain, tennis, and ballroom dancing can all fit into that intensity level as well, according to the CDC.
During the most intense workout, carrying on a conversation would be impossible, Rolnick said. You wouldn’t be able to say more than a few words without having to pause for breath, says the CDC.
Exercises done at this intensity can include running, swimming, singles tennis, aerobics dancing, cycling at more than 10 miles per hour, jumping rope or climbing hills, or carrying a heavy load.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes — 2.5 hours — of moderate to vigorous physical activity weekly. This can reduce the risk of early death, heart disease, hypertension, cancer and type 2 diabetes, according to the WHO.
Pregnant people should get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic and strengthening exercise a week, WHO recommendations say. And children under 18 need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise (mostly aerobic activity) daily.
Source: CNN Brasil
