If you are reading this article, it’s likely we’ve shared a similar experience. At some point in our lives, whether at home or school, we were taught the “ABC” song to help us learn the 26 letters we can recall so effortlessly now. I’d like to challenge you for a moment to think of exercise as a language. A quick look at our nation’s health statistics would suggest many of us struggle to grasp the exercise alphabet. There are many barriers, such as lack of time or motivation, which contribute to our exercise illiteracy. The good news is that, as with everything in life, it’s never too late to learn — exercise can become just as natural to sedentary individuals as reciting the alphabet.

Once an individual has decided to become active, the next step is to start forming words in this new language. A few of the words the American College of Sports Medicine considers essential for an exercise routine are:

• Frequency: Perform moderate intensity exercise at least five days a week or vigorous intensity exercise a minimum of three days a week.
• Intensity: If you were to rank how difficult you perceive a certain exercise to be on a scale of one to 10, moderate intensity would fall in the four to six range, while vigorous exercise would be in the seven to eight range. Another way to gauge exercise intensity is to first estimate your maximum heart rate (a quick and easy estimation is 220 minus your age). Moderate intensity exercise is within 64-75 percent of your maximum heart rate and any exercise that produces a heart rate between 76-95 percent of your maximum heart rate would be considered vigorous.
• Time: Most adults should exercise 30-60 minutes per day at moderate intensity with a minimum of 150 minutes each week or 20-60 minutes per day at vigorous intensity for a minimum of 75 minutes each week. While these amounts are recommended for most adults, it should be noted that even 20 minutes each day can be beneficial for formerly sedentary individuals.
• Type: The type of exercise should vary according to the fitness level of the individual but incorporating rhythmic, aerobic movements that involve all large muscle groups is recommended.
• Volume: A product of frequency, intensity and time and a reminder that each of these variables can be adjusted to meet a target volume of exercise over a given period of time.
• Progression: More on this in a bit.

If individuals continue to advance along the exercise language pathway, eventually they become masters of the language they pursue. However, mastering one language does not fulfill our overall fitness potential. You may know the type. A cyclist with chiseled legs who neglects training their upper body, a marathon runner who never considers strength training or an individual with a muscle-bound physique who couldn’t run a mile if it meant escaping certain doom. While these exercisers are outperforming most by sustaining a physically active lifestyle, they ignore the fact that there is more than one exercise language. These languages include aerobic exercise, resistance training, flexibility training, agility training, balance and coordination training, and more. An individual who is fluent in each of these exercise languages will have the functional and healthy body many seek to obtain, similar to multilingual individual being in high demand in the workforce.

Progression, one of the essential words in the exercise language, is necessary to achieve increases in fitness level. I challenge those of you who have already established an exercise routine to think about your goals and what you wish to accomplish. Have the exercises you monotonously perform become stale and caused your progression to plateau? It is likely that your body has adapted to the stimuli you have provided it and now is the time to switch it up.

Challenge your body the way you would challenge your brain to learn new things. Don’t become complacent with your current knowledge when there is so much more that could be beneficial to you. Increase the intensity of your exercise regularly or take on a whole new exercise language that you have previously ignored. If you are not exercising beyond the minimum threshold necessary to elicit a physiologic response then, quite simply, your body will not change.

So next time you set out to exercise, do more than the same routine that has yielded minimal physiologic adaptations. For those who have physical limitations preventing you from exercising alone or those just struggling with the exercise alphabet, I encourage you to seek out help from an exercise-trained professional. At one time, we all needed help learning the English language, and the “exercise ABCs” are no different. If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you!

Travis Rogerson, BS, is an exercise specialist and can be reached at Vidant Wellness Center – Washington at 252-975-4236.