Four types of exercise
The NHS in the UK says “If exercise were a pill, it would be one of the most cost-effective drugs ever invented.” But exercise isn’t a single pill, it’s a combination of them, as you’ll see if you walk into any gym. There, you’ll find an overwhelming number of group exercise classes, machines, and coaches available to you. Every one of them falls into one of four categories, or combines categories.
Balance
Balance is the body’s ability to know where it is in space.
Many parts of your body participate in balance — from your inner ear to your ankles. Balance exercise helps you to maintain stability by building control and awareness of your position, and by targeting core muscles and connective tissues. Often overlooked and given only a small place in workout plans, balance exercise is critical for the long-term ability to do any of the other kinds of exercise.
Balance exercises include Swiss ball and many yoga poses. Other disciplines where balance is a fundamental focus are dance, riding, skating, and martial arts.
Strength
Although there are many kinds of strength, when pertaining to exercise, it is all about muscular power and capacity. Todd Hargrove has an excellent article covering some of the complications of defining strength:
Almost any exercise you choose, from walking to rowing, will build strength initially. Once you reach your personal peak with that exercise, you can move into specific strength building exercises in order to continue building muscle.
Pure strength training exercises include weight lifting, bodyweight training, and calisthenics.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to move through a range of motion.
Flexibility allows freedom of movement, reduces muscle soreness and joint pain, and aids in balance. Flexibility, along with balance, impacts many of the everyday things you do that aren’t strictly exercise — getting out of bed or standing up from a chair, reaching for items in your cupboards, bending over to pick something off the floor. Being too stiff to do these daily tasks is not only annoying, but can also cause injury.
You gain flexibility through static and dynamic stretching and these exercises are frequently addressed in warm-ups and cool down stretching for all sports, and are also key components of yoga, pilates, gymnastics, and foam roller workouts.
Endurance
How long can you last? That is endurance and it’s tied to breathing and heart fitness.
Also called aerobic or cardio exercise, endurance training increases your lung capacity and heart strength. It can also help to lower blood pressure and reduce stress. The most popular reason for engaging in endurance exercise is to lose weight.
Exercises that get your heart pumping, like running and energetic aerobics are classic high-intensity endurance training; lower intensity options include walking.
Combinations are important
Getting a mix of all four types of exercise gives you well-rounded fitness.
Neglecting one has follow-on effects for the others. For example, imagine being strong enough to lift a box, but not having the flexibility to get it up onto a closet shelf. Or being able to move gracefully from one move to the next in a dance, but lacking endurance to finish out a three minute song.
No matter what your sport, exercise, or workout preference, be sure you include all four types of exercise on a regular basis to get the full benefit of the “exercise pill.”
Kilter is HasGeek’s humble attempt to provide a space for reasoned debate on how your body actually works, and how you can find your own path to good health via better nutrition, fitness and habits.
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