If physiological load is well managed and a person is getting enough food, is breathing well and sleeping well, there is often benefit in adding frequency in training.
This is in alignment with “move every day,” which I feel is a great target for most people – we promote blood flow, tissue, tendon and joint health, a healthy mind and more.
In the context of high “frequency” movement, or daily movement, we then have our range of “types of movement” and “intensity of movement” to play with.
So, how do we start high frequency training or movement then?
We limit intensity to start. This is the main one for most people, as intensity triggers the stress response (which can be too much for someone already under stress). Maintain nasal breathing for almost (if not all) movement when beginning, as frequency builds. This may mean you start with slow walking, or using nasal breathing as a regulator for other exercise.
Limit duration to start. Keep your sessions around an hour, as frequency builds. Then, some of the easier sessions such as interesting walks on the weekend etc can start to extend to 1-3 hours. After frequency of movement is built, then we can play with longer duration.
These two guidelines help us to build up a daily movement practice – perhaps walking, some strength work, some circuit work at a low to moderate intensity, some mobility…
From here, we can continue to assess how we breathe (an indicator of how well we are doing), how we sleep and most importantly, how we feel as we progress.
