So now that you are eating a nice balanced breakfast every morning, it's time to add another ingredient to our recipe for wellness: 30 minutes of accumulated moderate-intensity physical activity every day. If that phrase sounds a bit formal, it's because it comes straight from the Surgeon General.
What is boils down to is this: Move your body, everyday. We are not talking about cardio, like jogging, or 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym. This is just the minimum amount of activity you need to get everyday in order not to meet the clinical definition of a sedentary individual. A sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for many diseases, most of all type 2 diabetes.
So let's break this down:
30 Minutes Accumulated- This means it doesn't have to be all at once. if you have a fifteen minute walk to and from work or at lunch time, you've met the time goal. If you take 2-minute stair climbs 15 times a day, that works, too!
Moderate Intensity- This means you need to get your heart rate up a little. If you are walking, 100 steps per minute is about right. If you are a city dweller, most of us walk faster than that, anyway. Gotta catch that train! But if you are unsure, load your iPod with songs around 100 beats per minute (Bee Gee's Stayin' Alive is the best known example, since we also use it to time compressions in CPR training!). For other types of activity, try the talk test. You should feel like you could carry on a conversation without gasping for breath, but you shouldn't feel like you would be able to belt out a song. Sweating is a poor indicator of intensity, since it varies with the individual and the ambient temperature.
Physical Activity- What kinds of activity count? Since we want to get the heart pumping a little, concentrate on activities that use the big muscles of the legs. Activities that focus on the upper body are not going to have the same conditioning effect. Walking, biking, stairs, swimming, and dancing will all do the trick. Things like gardening, housework, and golf are iffy. If you are kneeling for most of the time, or ride a cart around the golf course, that doesn't really count. Carrying laundry up and down the stairs would definitely count toward your 30 minutes, though.
Make It Painless
You don't have to schedule an additional 30 minutes of activity into your day. Who has the time? Instead, build that activity into things that are already on your schedule. If you drive to work, park farther away from your office and get a little 5 minute walk in. Pick a nice, relaxing place to eat your lunch that is at least 5 minutes away from your desk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. March in place while you watch TV. Before you know it, you'll have finished your daily 30!
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