By Jonathon Stavres MS
There is no question that physical activity is important. From improving your blood pressure to blood sugar, activity is the medium by which you can enhance your overall physical well-being. Supporting literature has identified relationships between accumulated physical activity to mental health (3), insulin sensitivity (2), and other disease risk factors. However, does physical activity have to come in the form of exercise?
Exercise is a structured form of physical activity, repeated at a set time for a set duration.
Physical activity is simply defined as movement through space.
Movement does not have to be structured or planned, and can occur spontaneously. There is no “one size fits all” method for engaging in activity. While this may be a matter of semantics, the difference between these two terms may be the difference in accomplishing, or falling short of physical activity goals.
ACSM guidelines for physical activity/exercise
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that the general population achieve 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week (2). Researchers support the notion that performing activity in >10 minute bouts is just as effective as engaging in continuous physical activity, given that the accumulated minutes and intensities are equal.
What does this mean for you?
This means that you can structure your activity around your schedule, as opposed to the other way around. Rather than going to the gym for an hour after work, disperse your activity throughout the day.
On nice days, park a little farther away from work. Try to add a ten minute walk in the morning. Just adding ten minutes of a brisk-paced walk three times per day can be effective in increasing your daily activity, which will quickly translate to weekly activity and ultimately burning calories.
Activity protects against sedentary behavior
Intermittent activity can protect against sedentary behavior, which has recently been studied as an independent risk factor for cardio-metabolic disease (1). Intervention strategies to reduce sedentary behavior are currently being examined as well.
At first, it may seem that sedentary behavior and physical activity are directly related to one another; as one increases the other decreases. In terms of health, that is not necessarily the case. The ACSM recommendation of 150 minutes per week, or even the 300 minutes per week for weight loss, only accounts for a portion of the total weekly time. However, if all the time not spent in the gym is spent on the couch, the benefits of physical activity will be lost to the detriments of sedentary behavior.
Let’s get off the couch and engage in some type of physical activity/exercise consistently to receive the healthy benefits and physical well-being.
*For examples of other variations/exercises look under Multimedia-VDF Exercise Tips
**Consult with a physician and/or medical healthcare provider before starting any exercise regimen
***Jonathon Stavres MS is a guest contributing writer. He is a doctorate student in the Exercise Science/Exercise Physiology dept. at Kent State University
Article’s Resources
Brocklebank, L. A., Falconer, C. L., Page, A. S., Perry, R., & Cooper, A. R. (2015). Accelerometer-measured sedentary time and cardiometabolic biomarkers: A systematic review. Preventative Medicine, retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743515001206
Garber, C. E., Blissmer, B., Deschenes, M. R., Franklin, B. A., Lamonte, M. J., Lee, I.,… Swain, D. P. (2011). Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: Guidance for prescribing exercise. Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, 43(7). 1334-1359. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb
Janney, C. A., Richardson, C. R., Holleman, R. G., Glasheen, C., Strath, S. J., & Kriska, A. M. (2008). Gender, mental health service use and objectively measured physical activity: Data from the National Health and Nurtition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003-2004). Mental Health and Physical Activity, 1(1). 9-16.