If yoga is your thing, add cardio exercise.  A recent finding revealed that heart disease patients practicing yoga in addition to aerobic exercise had twice the reduction in blood presure, cholestrol levels and body mass index compared with those who did either exercise alone.

Mix things up with jogging,fast walking, biking, swimming or fast-paced aerobics classes. Make certain you are spending most of the time at your target heart rate for 30 minutes a day , five days a week.  You can do three 10 minute sessions or two 15 minute sessions to reach the goal of 150 minutes weekly of moderate cardiovascular  exercise.

Your target heart rate. Aim for 50% to 85% of your maximum heart rate which is 220 minus your age. If you have a medical condition ask your physician what your maximum heart rate should be.

AGE    max H/R                    50% to 75%                       70% to 85 %

55       165 b/m                      83 – 123 b/m                    115 – 140 b/m

60       160 b/m                      80 – 120 b/m                    112 – 136 b/m

65       155 b/m                     78 – 116 b/m                     109 – 132 b/m

70       150 b/m                     75 – 113 b/m                     105 – 128 b/m

75       145 b/m                     73 – 109 b/m                     102 – 123 b/m

80       140 b/m                     70 – 105 b/m                     98 –  119 b/m

85       135 b/m                     68 –  101 b/m                    94 –  114 b/m

90       130 b/m                     65 –   97 b/m                     91 –  110 b/m

95       125 b/m                     62 –   93 b/m                     87 –  106 b/m  

A common problem for exercisers is lack of variety in their exercise program, causing boredom and plateaus.  Research has shown that more than 50 % of people who begin an exercise program will quit within the first 6 months.