So, I was noticing on my way out to the car mid morning … that is 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.
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 AND the small things add up. Below is a chart from the 2008 physical activity guidelines http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/chapter1.aspx
You can see adding as little as 150 min / week of medium level of activity brings some to substantial health benefits.
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 the concept that 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, and high you are speedy, their colors are blending together, you aren’t commenting much on them one way or the other but you are sweating and breathing hard.
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 repetive movements, getting us grounded for our next clt, and stress levels
Strength Train – YES, I said you can strength train during your day. I have a program so that 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 climibing 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.
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 activites. You JUST might be doing more than you think you are already! There’s also a great chart at the CDC’s website: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/pdf/PA_Intensity_table_2_1.pdf
Rember to meet the guidelines you can break up the time – 3 /10min sessions still equals 30min in your daily activity counts.
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. 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. |
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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. |
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:
Iowa CHAMPs Cardiac Rehabilitation Guide: Exercise: http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/internalmedicine/champs/metchart.html
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METs |
Exercise |
Recreational |
Occupational |
Activities of DL |
1.5-2.0 METs |
Strolling 1-1.5 mph 1 miles in 40-60min |
Knitting; Playing cards; Sewing; Watching TV |
Desk work; Driving auto/truck; Sitting doing light assembly; Typing; Using hand tools; writing |
Brushing hair/teeth, Light housework, Making bed; Partial bath; Polishing furniture; Washing clothes |
2.0-3.0 METs |
Walking, level 2.0-2.5 mph, 1 mile in 24-30min Cycling, level outdoors-5mph |
Horseback riding (walk); Light golf (power cart); Playing musical instrument; Shuffleboard; Woodworking |
Bartending; Crane operation; Standing doing light or medium assembly; TV/auto/car repair; Working heavy lever |
Cooking; Driving car; Ironing; riding lawn mower; Scrubbing floor; walls, cars, windows; Showering; Sweeping; Tub bath |
3.0-4.0 METs |
Walking 3.0-4.0 mph, 1 mile in 15-20min Cycling, outdoors
5.5 mph |
Billiards; Bowling; Canoeing; Croquet; Fly fishing; Golf (pulling cart); Shopping; Volleyball (non-competitive) |
Baling hay; Driving heavy truck; heavy machine assembly; Janitorial work; Light welding; Operating large levers; Plastering; Plumbing; Stocking shelves |
Cleaning windows; Climbing stairs (slowly); General House work; Kneeling; Light work; Packing/unpacking; Power lawn mowing (light); Sexual intercourse; Stocking shelves; Vacuuming |
4.0-5.0 METs |
Walking 3.5-4.0 mph 1 mile in 15-17 min Cycling, 8 mph Calesthenics Swimming (20 yd/min) |
Ballet; Dancing; Gardening (how, weeding, digging), Golf (carrying clubs); Table tennis; Tennis (doubles); Volleyball |
Building interior of house; Carrying trays/dishes; Farm work (sporadic); House painting, Lifting, carrying objects(20-40 lb); Light carpentry; Mechanic work |
Raking leaves, shoveling light loads |
5.0-6.0 METs |
Walking 4.0-4.5 mph 1 mile in 13-15 min Biking, 10 mph |
Canoeing (4m/hr); Gardening (digging); Skating (ice/roller); Social/square dancing; Softball/baseball (non-game); Stream fishing |
Handyman work (moving, shoveling); Heavy Carpentry; Putting in sidewalk |
Raking leaves, shoveling light loads |
6.0-7.0 METs |
Walking/jogging, 4.0-5.0 mph 1 mile in 12-13 min Biking, 11 mph Swimming (breaststroke) |
Backpacking (light); Badminton; Hiking; Hunting; Horseback riding (trot), Skiing (cross country 2.5 mph); Skiing (light downhill); quare dancing; Tennis (singles) |
Exterior home building; Lifting, carrying objects (45-64 lb); Shoveling (10/min, 9 lb); Splitting wood |
Lawn mowing (push mower); Snow shoveling (light snow) |
7.0-8.0 METs |
Walking, 5 mph 1 mile in 12 min Biking (outdoors) 12 mph Swimming (backstroke), 40 yd/min |
Badminton (competitive); Basketball (non-game); Canoeing (5 mph); golf (carrying bag); Horseback (gallop); Skiing (downhill, vigorous) |
Ascending stairs with 17 lb load; Lifting, carrying (65-84 lb); Moving heavy furniture; Sawing |
|
8.0-9.0 METs |
Jog/run 5.5 mph Biking (outdoors) 13 mph Swimming (breaststroke) 40 yd/min Rowing machine; Rope jumping (60-80 skips/min) |
Basketball (non-game); Handball/squash/racquetball; Mountain climbing; Soccer (non-team); Touch football; Tour skiing |
Lifting, carrying (85-100 lb); Moving heavy furniture (moving van work); Shoveling (14 lb scoops, 10 scoops/min); Using heavy tools |
|
9.0-10.0 METs |
Jog/run, 6 mph 1 mile in 10 min |
Football (competitive); sledding/tobogganing |
Heavy labor; Lumberjack; Shoveling (16 lb scoops) |
Ascending stairs carrying 54 lb |
11.0+ METs |
Run 7 mph (11.5 METs) 8 mph (13.5 METs) |
Competitive sports: Basketball, Handball, Racquet, Rowing |
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