Are You Getting Enough Activity and Exercise?

It is no secret that people are sitting more and moving less than ever. The average person's activity level throughout each day is decreasing on a regular basis. It is well known that exercise has many benefits and that moving more throughout the day can help stay healthy. Activity levels can be divided into categories; general movement/activity and exercise.

General movement and activity refers to how much you are moving around verses sitting throughout the day. There are no true guidelines for general movement and activity as there are many variables to this; however adding more movement and activity throughout the day can add in weight loss and general fitness. Some examples of this would be parking further from the door at work/stores, taking the stairs, etc.

Exercise is easier to provide guidelines to as this has more structured start and end times. Now first it is important to define what classifies as exercise. Exercise can be broadly defined as movement and activity that you have set time aside to do that you wouldn't normally do throughout your day. Things such as mowing the lawn, gardening, cleaning etc are not considered exercise as these are regular daily activities.

The guidelines for exercise are as follows:

Healthy adults should aim to perform 150-300 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous activity with at least 2 sessions of strength training each week.