Exercise Duration and Intensity

Remember that exercise duration refers to the amount of time in an exercise session that aerobic conditioning is occurring. Exercise intensity measures the workload or how hard the heart is working. The most common way of increasing aerobic exercise intensity is to increase the speed at which the activity is performed. For instance, walking faster or jogging can increase a walker's exercise intensity. Another way to increase intensity is to increase the number of muscles you're using. For example, playing basketball uses both upper and lower body muscles.

The client looking to improve her level of physical fitness will benefit most from a high-intensity workout. High-intensity aerobic workouts and low-impact aerobic classes improve both cardiovascular and respiratory function as well as increase muscle fiber use. Clients focusing more on the health benefits they can receive from exercise gain the most from moderate-intensity workouts done for a longer duration.

Moderate- intensity workouts, such as brisk walking, provide health benefits including lowered blood pressure, reduced body fat, improved psychological health , and a reduced risk of heart disease and other diseases.

There are many methods of preparing a competitive athlete for his or her sport. One such method is called tapering.Tapering reduces training intensity and duration as the competition day approaches while focusing on competitive technique and nutritional therapy that allow for peak performance. Tapering allows glycogen stores to be replenished and tissue repair to occur, and it keeps the athlete focused on the upcoming competition.

Exercise Frequency

You already know that exercise frequency refers to how many time each week the client performs the aerobic activity . Training too frequently can increase a client's chance of injury, while training too infrequently can hinder the client's fitness progress. Most effective cardiorespiratory programs require the client to exercise at least three days a week with no more than two days between exercise sessions.


There are several  factors the personal fitness trainer must consider when deciding what a client's exercise frequency should be . Clients who are new to exercise generally require more recovery time between exercise sessions than more experienced exercisers from 36 to 48 hours between workouts is sufficient.

Exercise done at a high intensity and for longer durations also calls for a longer recovery period than those exercises performed at a lower intensity for less time.


When a client is a competitive athlete, training frequency must be varied depending on the sport season and competition times. During the off season, an athlete may exercise frequently in a different manner or choose to train infrequently to give his body a rest. The preseason often calls for the athlete to train daily or even multiple times per day, while training should be scaled back on days prior to competition once the sport's season begins. As a beginning personal fitness trainer, you probably won't work much with competitive athletes, as working with such clients often requires specialized training.