While “No pain, no gain” is the motto many fitness enthusiasts adhere to, it may not be the route for those trying to break into a routine of exercising.

Paddy Ekkekakis, assistant professor of health and human performance, has been researching the relationship between feelings toward exercise and exercise intensity, also known as affective responses.

“The working hypothesis is that higher exercise intensity – especially above a certain level, which varies somewhat from individual to individual – will lead to negative affective responses,” Ekkekakis said. “And these negative affective responses may be what is turning many new exercisers away from regular exercise participation.”

Ekkekakis said studies of the exercise and affective responses date back approximately three decades, and the philosophy on the necessary amount of exercise for a healthy lifestyle dramatically changed during the ’90s.

“Initially, exercise prescriptions were focused on the development and maintenance of cardiovascular fitness,” Ekkekakis said.

What was considered necessary under those guidelines was exercising 3-5 times per week for 20-60 minutes at approximately 50-80 percent of maximal heart rate, Ekkekakis said.

“Now, researchers have come to the realization that these levels of activity are unattainable for most people, and may, in fact, have scared many people away from exercise,” Ekkekakis said. This type of thinking led many to assume they could not meet standards, Ekkekakis said, and not start exercising at all.

Accumulating research shows the highest increase in benefits is attained in the change from no activity to some, he said. There are benefits of additional exercise, but the increase rate is slower.

Emily Martini’s job as an exercise specialist at the Thielen Student Health Center includes administering fitness assessments and creating exercise programs.

Martini, graduate student in health and human performance, recommended 30-60 minutes of moderate exercise 3-5 days a week.

“There’s no magic pill; with exercise it’s either you do it or you lose it,” Martini said. “It’s better to do something than nothing.”

“One of the striking things that one observes in exercise studies is how people of the same age, sex and physical condition respond differently to an identical exercise stimulus,” Ekkekakis said.

Moderate exercises are recommended, including bike riding, hiking, swimming and of course walking.

Walking is associated with a low occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries and low rates of drop-out, and is familiar, cheap and convenient, Ekkekakis said.

“[Walking] has been shown to confer several health benefits such as reduction of body weight by helping to maintain a balance between caloric intake and expenditure, reduction in `bad’ cholesterol, increases in `good’ cholesterol, reductions in hypertension, protection against diabetes and reduction in overall mortality,” Ekkekakis said.

Martini recommended setting a schedule for exercise activities.

“They should set a time of what they are going to do, but they should set a variety of activities that they like doing,” Martini said. “Whether it’s indoors or outdoors, individual or within a group, people will stick with it if they enjoy it.”