Do We Really Need an Hour of Exercise Every Day?
Steve Daisey MPT, CSCS"To maintain cardiovascular health at a maximal level, regardless of weight, adults and children should spend a total of at least one hour each day in moderately intense physical activity."
That recent statement which made headlines a few weeks ago came from The National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The "one hour of physical activity" request by NAS is double what the surgeon general's report recommended in 1996. As sometimes happens, the press coverage that followed only served to dilute and confuse the message.
Let's clarify this statement.
"Physical activity" is not the same as "exercise". Physical activity is something, anything, that substantially increases your energy expenditure - leading to an "active lifestyle". Exercise, on the other hand, is a higher-level activity that is intense enough to increase overall physical fitness. An "active lifestyle" has been shown in numerous studies to reduce risk factors for coronary artery disease, stroke and adult-onset diabetes (1-3).
The article (actually, more like an epic miniseries at 936 pages) essentially states that to harness the many benefits of exercise (prevention of stroke, heart disease, etc.) and maintain body weight, one must engage in an "active lifestyle." Through research and plenty of mathematical formulas, the article defines an "active lifestyle" as one which includes about 30 minutes of exercise each day, and 30 minutes of "moderately intense physical activities". What are examples of moderately intense physical activities?
Examples would be a combination of activities such as gardening, walking the dog, stair-climbing, golf, tennis, taking out the trash, mopping, mowing the lawn and vacuuming.
So to answer the question: No, we do not need to set aside an hour of exercise every day to achieve the benefits of an active lifestyle.
Do YOU Get Enough Physical Activity Throughout the Day to be Considered "Active"?
NAS has actually developed a scale and some mildly complex formulas to determine whether someone is maintaining and deriving the benefits of an "active lifestyle". The formulas result in a "physical activity level ratio" or PAL ratio. I have turned these formulas into a convenient online calculator to determine if the accumulation of activity during YOUR day results in an "active lifestyle".
First, enter the following:
