So, I was noticing on my way out to the car mid morning … that it smells different outside. Tis the season of …
Parking and walking!!! Yeah. Yeah. Yeah!!!! The ice is gone and may not return in full force (to cover our parking lots) till the leaves fall again.
I’m sure that’s not the seasonal name you were thinking I was going to say. So now that I’ve got your attention and before you list all the reasons you can’t walk more, hear me out!
Walking for Physical Activity
In order to lead a more healthy lifestyle you must add physical activity (PA) into your day. PA is about doing more throughout your day that gets your body moving (like walking when you originally might have driven). AND THE SMALL THINGS ADD UP!
Attached is a chart from the 2008 physical activity guidelines. You can see adding as little as 150 min / week of medium level activity brings some substantial health benefits.
Intensity Levels
Below the table are definitions of intensity levels. If you are wondering about intensity levels; how to figure out your ideal low, moderate, high ranges l can help you do that.
Otherwise, go with this concept:
Low you can hold a conversation about the flowers.
Medium you can say a sentence about them (probably sweating and your breathing is getting heavier).
High you are speedy, their colors are blending together, you aren’t commenting much on them one way or the other (you are sweating and breathing hard).
Walking for PA Examples
AND before you say I don’t have 150min to give up each week, I’m already too busy. Here’s some ways:
PARK AND WALK – I don’t park by the bus stop because I love the asphalt. I do it because I can. I can pay it forward. I know someday I’ll have to park closer. It allows me to fit more activity into my busy days and the view is nice walking into our Bodo building.
Get up every 90 min and walk around your worksite –Outside or in doesn’t matter just move.
Do desk yoga – It helps with repetitive movements, getting us grounded, and lowering stress levels
Strength Train – YES, I said you can strength train during your day. You can hit all the major muscle groups, move once an hour, and NOT sweat too much, at least not enough that you have to change your clothes.
Take the stairs whenever you can – Stair climbing is a great way to get a cardio burst in throughout your day. Challenge yourself to run up, or take two at a time, or go up and down for a full 10min.
Walking for PA Guidelines
Check out the MET chart below. METs are a way we calculate energy expenditure. If you’d like to know your range I can figure it out for you, it’s based on weight and uses a an value of 1 for resting.
As the METs get higher, the harder the PA you are performing.
As you can see from the chart there are many ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily work and life activities. You JUST might be doing more than you think you are already!
There’s also a great chart at the CDC’s website!!
Remember, to meet the guidelines, you can break up the time – 3 /10min sessions still equals 30min in your daily activity counts.
Let's Get You Walking
And before you let the words “I can’t do those things because of my knee, my back, my hip, my kids, my ______ (or whatever)” STOP.
Fine, don’t park by the bus stop. Park the next spot up from your normal spot and walk 10 steps more not 20!! More walking in any form is beneficial to your health!
Don’t take the stairs if you feel more pain – pick something else to do. Focus on what you CAN do not what you can’t.
You never know, you just might find that by going slowly it doesn’t take long to do that thing you felt you’d never do. Step by Step – literally.
Enjoy your parking and walking (aka spring) season!
Classification of:
Total Weekly Amounts of Aerobic Physical Activity Into Four Categories
| Levels of Physical Activity | Range of Moderate-Intensity Minutes a Week | Summary of Overall Health Benefits | Comment |
| Inactive | No activity beyond baseline | None | Being inactive is unhealthy. |
| Low | Activity beyond baseline but fewer than 150 minutes a week | Some | Low levels of activity are clearly preferable to an inactive lifestyle. |
| Medium | 150 minutes to 300 minutes a week | Substantial | Activity at the high end of this range has additional and more extensive health benefits than activity at the low end. |
| High | More than 300 minutes a week | Additional | Current science does not allow researchers to identify an upper limit of activity above which there are no additional health benefits. |
Walking is Action
Action is needed at the individual, community, and societal levels to help Americans become physically active.
- Inactive is no activity beyond baseline activities of daily living.
- Low activity is activity beyond baseline but fewer than 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity physical activity a week or the equivalent amount (75 minutes, or 1 hour and 15 minutes) of vigorous-intensity activity.
- Medium activity is 150 minutes to 300 (5 hours) minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week (or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity a week). In scientific terms, this range is approximately equivalent to 500 to 1,000 metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes a week.
- High activityis more than the equivalent of 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week.
MET chart:
Thank you for taking the first step in your health journey!
Taking time out of your day to incorporate exercise IS HARD! But once you start doing it, it becomes a lifestyle AND it all starts with walking!
Learn more and reach out!
And as always, if you are struggling to engage fully in your life and would like to see how psychology might be able to help you contact me today!
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