Physical activity guidelines are essential for knowing what to do so you can reap all of physical activity's sweet benefits. The powers that be recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity to help protect against chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease and to help prevent stress. However, if you're looking to prevent weight gain or even lose weight, shoot for 60 or more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity nearly every day. Here are the nuts and bolts on how much physical activity you need to do, at what intensity and how to measure it How much time? Experts recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity on 5 days of the week or a minimum of 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity on 3 days of the week. They also recommend 8 to 10 muscle strengthening activities on 2 days each week, just not on back-to-back days. By the way, there's a dose-response relationship between physical activity and health benefits. So the more you do, the greater the benefits!
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Break It Up Most people don't realize that you don't need to do 30 or 60 minutes all at once. Just make sure that the activity you do throughout the day is moderately intense and adds up to 30 to 60 minutes. You can do whichever combo you like: two to four 15-minute segments or three to six 10-minute segments. It's been found that these shorter bouts result in similar improvements in fitness and other health measures like reduced blood pressure readings.
Moderate vs. Vigorous Intensity So what's the difference between moderate and vigorous intensity? First, intensity is the level of effort you exert when doing physical activity. To be at a moderate intensity means to get your heart rate up. You'll feel your heart beating but you won't necessarily be out of breath. Vigorous intensity, on the other hand, is when you really get your heart rate up and you're breathing a lot heavier than normal. You may be somewhat out of breath with vigorous activity.
Still not clear on the difference? Well, the easiest way to tell whether you're doing moderate or vigorous activity is your conversation level. With moderate-intensity activity, you should be able to chat with a friend. With vigorous-intensity activity, it should be a lot more difficult to carry on a conversation. And if at any point you feel dizzy, stop whatever you're doing.
How much time?
Experts recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity on 5 days of the week or a minimum of 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity on 3 days of the week. They also recommend 8 to 10 muscle strengthening activities on 2 days each week, just not on back-to-back days. By the way, there's a dose-response relationship between physical activity and health benefits. So the more you do, the greater the benefits!
Most people don't realize that you don't need to do 30 or 60 minutes all at once. Just make sure that the activity you do throughout the day is moderately intense and adds up to 30 to 60 minutes. You can do whichever combo you like: two to four 15-minute segments or three to six 10-minute segments. It's been found that these shorter bouts result in similar improvements in fitness and other health measures like reduced blood pressure readings.
Moderate vs. Vigorous Intensity
So what's the difference between moderate and vigorous intensity? First, intensity is the level of effort you exert when doing physical activity. To be at a moderate intensity means to get your heart rate up. You'll feel your heart beating but you won't necessarily be out of breath. Vigorous intensity, on the other hand, is when you really get your heart rate up and you're breathing a lot heavier than normal. You may be somewhat out of breath with vigorous activity.
Still not clear on the difference? Well, the easiest way to tell whether you're doing moderate or vigorous activity is your conversation level. With moderate-intensity activity, you should be able to chat with a friend. With vigorous-intensity activity, it should be a lot more difficult to carry on a conversation. And if at any point you feel dizzy, stop whatever you're doing.