Personal Health Assessment Results - Completed:

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

You reported that you engage in days of moderate activity and days of vigorous activity per week. Great job! Maintaining an active lifestyle provides many health benefits. The following information provides an overview of current recommendations. Benefits and Current Recommendations The benefits of engaging in regular physical activity are endless. You will have more energy, develop a more positive outlook on life, reduce your risk of chronic disease and in some cases you may be able to reduce your symptoms of chronic diseases. Aerobic exercise increases your heart rate and improves the function of your cardiorespiratory system, while muscle-strengthening exercises will improve your strength and endurance. Moderate Aerobic Exercise Current recommendations suggest all healthy adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week. Additional health benefits are gained by exercising 300 minutes each week. If you engage in at least 30-60 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week you are meeting the guidelines. Moderate Intensity Brisk walking (3 miles per hour or faster) Water aerobics Biking slower than 10 miles per hour Tennis (doubles) Ballroom dancing General gardening Vigorous Aerobic Exercise Vigorous aerobic exercise allows a person to accomplish the same amount of exercise in a shorter amount of time. Your heart rate will increase and you will only be able to say a few words before pausing for breath. In order to meet the minimum physical activity guidelines you may choose to engage in 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise each week instead of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise. 75 minutes each week breaks down to 25 minutes, exercise 3 days a week Examples of vigorous intensity include Racewalking, jogging or running Swimming laps Tennis (singles) Zumba Biking 10 miles per hour or faster Jump rope Heavy gardening (continuous digging while heart rate increases) Hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack Strength Muscle-strengthening activities provide added benefits not achieved through aerobic exercise alone. Current recommendations suggest all healthy adults to engage in muscle-strengthening activities for all of the major muscle groups at least two times each week. In order to become stronger it is necessary to push yourself to the point where it becomes difficult to do another repetition (one complete movement of an activity, like lifting a weight or doing a sit-up) without help. Examples of muscle-strengthening exercises include Using resistance bands Weight training Body weight exercises Carrying or moving heavy objects Flexibility Flexibility is an important component of physical fitness that can be achieved through stretching. Stretching should be done in addition to, not in replace of aerobic or muscle-strengthening exercises. Moving Forward Sometimes life gets in the way of meeting our exercise goals. Make time for yourself by completing your workout in 10 minute increments throughout the day or find a workout buddy to keep yourself on track. Most importantly, find activities you enjoy and you will be much more likely to stick with it. Additional resources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/index.htm U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans at www.health.gov/paguidelines