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Physical Activity

Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults

  • at least 150 minutes of moderate levels of physical activity such as cycling or fast walking every week. That equals 30 minutes of activity five days per week. and
  • strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).

Start Today

Commit to just one easy, healthy action today. A few examples are:


Make time for a short walk.

Lace up your walking shoes and take a brisk stroll around the neighborhood where you live or work. A few blocks could mean more than 100 calories burned.

Walking is a great exercise—and convenient, too. Staying active helps keep muscles in shape, helps maintain a healthy weight, and reduces your risk of other health problems in the future.

Find out how to make walking more of a work out here! http://www.webmd.com/

Find out more about warm ups, cool downs, and how to pick ta proper walking show here! http://www.mayoclinic.org

Exercise for 30 minutes.

Pick an activity that makes you break a healthy sweat—dancing, brisk walking, jogging—and do it for 30 minutes today.

For most adults, 30 minutes of moderate physical activity is recommended five times a week. Start with one session and build your stamina, and you’ll see benefits right away: increased energy and better mood, plus reduced risk of heart attack and high blood pressure.

Take your meeting outside.

Walking meetings can provide many health and work related benefits. Whenever the opportunity arises, suggest taking a walk for your next meeting. It allows you to be more productive, more engaging and focused on your return, and it you get some of your exercise in for the day.

Partner with a friend for exercise.

Use Facebook, send an e-mail or text, or just ask someone to be your partner for 30 minutes of physical activity this week—a co-worker to walk with, a friend to meet you at the gym, or a family member to join you for a workout video at home.

Studies show that you’ll be far more likely to stick with regular physical activity if you have someone to share it with, and it’s more fun that way, too!

Add extra movement and activity into your day.

This one is a classic, and it’s super-simple: take the stairs whenever you can. You’ll burn calories both ways, get your heart pumping, and give your muscles a wake-up call. Want to go bigger? Skip a step as you climb up or down.

Regular exercise can be hard to fit into a busy routine, but opportunities to push our bodies are everywhere we look. Stairs are just one example of a built-in workout just waiting for your attention.

Muscle naturally diminishes as we age so making strength training a part of your regular exercise routine is important! The American College of Sports Medicine recommends incorporating 2 days of strength training each week. Always consider your options and start small to avoid injury!

To learn more about strength training benefits, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org

 

Benefits

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health.

Physical activity can help:

If you’re not sure about becoming active or boosting your level of physical activity because you’re afraid of getting hurt, the good news is that moderate-intensity aerobic activity, like brisk walking, is generally safe for most people.

Start slowly. Cardiac events, such as a heart attack, are rare during physical activity. But the risk does go up when you suddenly become much more active than usual. For example, you can put yourself at risk if you don’t usually get much physical activity and then all of a sudden do vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, like shoveling snow. That’s why it’s important to start slowly and gradually increase your level of activity.

If you have a chronic health condition such as arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease, talk with your doctor to find out if your condition limits, in any way, your ability to be active. Then, work with your doctor to come up with a physical activity plan that matches your abilities. If your condition stops you from meeting the minimum Guidelines, try to do as much as you can. What’s important is that you avoid being inactive. Even 60 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity is good for you.


The bottom line is that the health benefits of physical activity far outweigh the risks of getting hurt.


Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, Homepage. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/. November 23, 2015.