Whether you’ve hit a workout plateau or you’re just ready to turn things up a notch, adding more strenuous exercise — also known as high-intensity exercise — to your overall fitness routine is one way to increase your calorie burn, improve your heart health, and boost your metabolism.
However, to do it safely and effectively, there are some guidelines you should follow. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of vigorous exercise and how to safely dial up the intensity of your workouts.
When it comes to exercise, the intensity of how hard you work out is just as important as the duration of your exercise session. In general, exercise intensity is divided into three categories:
For an activity to be vigorous, you need to work at 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, according to the American Heart Association . Examples of vigorous exercise include:
Low to moderate exercise is easier to sustain for longer periods since you work below 70 percent of your maximum heart rate and, sometimes, well below that level.
To reap health benefits, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that people age 18 and older get one of the following:
Increasing your exercise intensity is fairly simple to do. You can still participate in your favorite activities — just at a more vigorous pace.
One of the benefits of more strenuous exercise is that you can reap the same rewards as moderate-intensity exercise but in less time. So, if time is of the essence, doing a more strenuous 20-minute workout can be just as beneficial as doing a slower 40-minute workout session.
| Moderate intensity | Strenuous intensity |
|---|---|
| bicycling at less than 10 mph | bicycling at more than 10 mph |
| walking briskly | running, or hiking uphill at a steady pace |
| jog-walk intervals | water jogging/running |
| shooting baskets in basketball | playing a basketball game |
| playing doubles tennis | playing singles tennis |
| raking leaves or mowing the lawn | shoveling more than 10 lbs. per minute, digging ditches |
| walking stairs | running stairs |
Besides being more efficient, turning up the heat on your fitness sessions can benefit your health in a variety of ways. Let’s take a closer look at some of the evidence-based benefits of a higher intensity workout.
So, how do you know for sure that you’re exercising at a strenuous level? Let’s look at three ways to measure the intensity of your physical activity.
Monitoring your heart rate is one of the most reliable methods for measuring exercise intensity. Exercising at 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate qualifies as vigorous exercise intensity.
You can check your heart rate while you’re working out by wearing a heart rate monitor or taking your pulse.
The talk test is one of the easiest ways to measure exercise intensity.
The rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale is a subjective measure of exercise intensity.
When using RPE, you’ll pay attention to your heart rate, breathing, and muscle fatigue, and rate your exertion level based on a scale that ranges from 1 to 10. No exertion is rated as a 1 and maximum effort is rated as 10.
To be considered vigorous, an activity should meet or exceed a level of 6 to 7, which is considered hard on the RPE scale. This includes jogging, biking, or swimming. Running without stopping is ranked as 8 to 9 on the RPE scale.
Adding strenuous activity to your weekly workout routine requires some careful planning. Fortunately, many of the activities that you do at a moderate level can easily be performed at a higher intensity.
One way of incorporating vigorous aerobic activity into your routine is to do a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout. This type of workout combines short bursts of intense activity — typically performed at 80 to 95 percent of your maximum heart rate — with recovery periods at 40 to 50 percent maximum heart rate.
To sustain this level of training, consider following a 2:1 work to rest ratio. For example, a treadmill workout or outdoor running session could include:
Playing a fast-paced sport like soccer, basketball, or racquetball is another effective way to add strenuous activity to your fitness routine. Participating in cycling classes or swimming laps are other ways to build more strenuous exercise into your workouts.
Before you turn up the intensity on your workouts, it’s important to keep the following safety tips in mind.
If you have a health condition or you haven’t been active in a while, make sure you talk to your doctor before you start a high-intensity exercise routine. Your doctor can advise you on a safe level of exercise or how to become more active in the safest way possible.
Going from low- or moderate-intensity workouts to vigorous exercise requires time and patience. While you may be ready to jump in with both feet, the safest way to add more vigorous exercise is to do it in bite-size increments. Pushing yourself too quickly can result in injuries and burnout.
It’s also a good idea to space out your vigorous workouts throughout the week. Try not to do two strenuous sessions back-to-back.
Your body requires more time to recover from a vigorous workout compared to a low- or moderate-intensity session.
To help your body recover, make sure to always include a cooldown and stretch routine after strenuous physical activity.
Staying hydrated is especially important when you’re exercising hard. Not drinking enough fluids can affect the quality of your workout and make you feel tired, lethargic, or dizzy. It may even lead to headaches and cramps.
Turning up the intensity of your workout sessions can be an effective way of boosting your overall health and fitness. It’s also an easy way to save time when trying to fit a workout into your day.
To play it safe, always start slow and pay attention to how your body feels.
While vigorous exercise offers many health benefits, it’s not appropriate for everyone. If you have a health condition or you haven’t been active in a while, make sure to talk with your doctor before working out at a more strenuous level.
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