Physical Activity, What Is It and How Do I Do It?

We always talk about getting physical or taking part in physical activity but what does this statement really mean. According to the World Health Organisation Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by our muscles that requires energy expenditure. 

Be careful not to confuse the term 'physical activity' and 'exercise'. Exercise is actually a subcategory of physical activity. Exercise is a planned, structured repetitive and is purposeful in improving or maintaining our physical fitness.

Research has shown that around half of us are not getting enough activity to meet the minimum targets that are needed to achieve good health. The minimum amount of activity that is recommended for good health is 30 minutes of 'moderate' activity 5-7 days a week. "But what is a moderate level for me" you might ask. Well this is defined as a level that causes a 'slight but noticeable increase in our heart rate' Some of the things that this might include are a brisk walk, a good guide for a moderate intensity is about 15 minutes for a Kilometre, or even simpler you can talk but you cannot sing. But we don’t always have time for this, or we are tired when we get home from work or we have chores to do around the home. Well good news. These things can be used as part of our physical activity. We can mow the lawn, vacuum, dig in the garden- as long as your breathing and heart rate are raised you are on the right track.

You don’t have to do all your physical activity in one day either. You could do three 10 minute burst spread throughout the day. But anything shorter is probably not going to have the impact that is desired.

If you are able to achieve a good and constant level of activity you will achieve great health benefits. You will reduce your odds of coronary artery disease by a massive 40% this is where a fatty build up exists in the blood vessels; this is the key risk factor in heart attacks. You might even take a huge step in preventing the occurrence of diabetes, stroke and possibly mental health issues such as depression.

Here are some simple guidelines to help you all get started in being physically active and kick start our healthy lives.

1. Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience.
2. Be active every day in as many ways as you can.
3. Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.
4. If you can, also enjoy some regular vigorous exercise for extra health and fitness.

Often I hear that “A gym membership is just so expensive”, and “I need motivation. I need someone pushing me to get active” but my answer is why do you need someone to help you get active. Isn’t getting out doors and seeing the world enough. There are great bush walking sites around Wollongong and even up to Stanwell tops. Go and see the area we live in. It might cost you a pair of shoes but gee it’s much cheaper than a gym. Why not do your chores to music that you like, that you can sing and dance to. I have to admit when I do my chores around the home I am always listening to music and can’t help but “get my bogie on”.

Something that I have found helpful in recent times is the use of what is called a workout tracker. These are applications that you can get on your phone in order to help you track and store your exercise routes and assess how you are going. Many of these applications also have sports stars built into the phone to help keep you motivated and also give you regular updates on how you are going. You can get these applications for free through either the Android store or the Apple ITunes store.

Life can be an amazing journey full of fun joy and happiness and love if we choose it to be. A good way to increase your physical activity is to write a list of “play ideas”. These are ideas of how you can not just get your heart rate moving, but spend time outdoors or with family and friends. These can be not just a structured (planned) event but even a non structured activity, these can include things like fishing, drawing a landscape or even flying a kite with your kids or grandkids. Make this list and place it on your fridge and cross them off as you do them. Make a plan to do at least one of these activates once a week.

So we have discussed non structured ideas but what are some structured ideas. Well this can be the plan to go for our walk or run. Another great activity that is cheap and cost effective and can be done at home is to get an exercise ball and to do various exercises on these (exercises are often included when you buy the ball). These exercise balls can cost. $20-$40 and are a great way to help increase our heart rate. But more than that we can use them to help stretch our bodies.  But if you cant get an exercise ball we can do the common exercises that we can all benefit from. These are listed below with a brief explanation:

1)      Crunches for Abdomen:

·         A crunch begins with lying face up on the floor with knees bent. The movement begins by curling the shoulders towards the pelvis. The hands can be behind or beside the neck or crossed over the chest.

2)      Push-ups:

·         Lie chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor and slightly more than shoulder-width apart, and your feet together and parallel to each other.

·         Look forward rather than down at the floor. The first contact you make with the floor with any part of the face should be your chin, not your nose.

·         Keep your legs straight and your toes tucked under your feet.

·         Straighten your arms as you push your body up off the floor. Keep your palms fixed at the same position and keep your body straight. Try not to bend or arch your upper or lower back as you push up.

·         Exhale as your arms straighten out.

·         Pause for a moment.

·         Lower your body slowly towards the floor. Bend your arms and keep your palms in fixed position. Keep body straight and feet together.

·         Lower body until chest touches the floor. Try not to bend your back. Keep your knees off the floor, and inhale as you bend your arms.

·         Pause for a moment. Begin straightening your arms for a second push-up. Exhale as you raise your body.

3)      Squats:  

·         Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart with your weight evenly distributed on both feet. Your hips, knees and toes should all point straight ahead, and abdominal muscles should be held tight.

·         Inhale as you bend your knees and extend your buttocks backward as if you are going to sit in a chair. Extend your arms in front of you and focus your eyes straight ahead or at a point slightly higher to help you maintain balance.

·         Watch that your knees do not extend past your toes, which puts great strain on the knee joints. Focus on keeping your weight over your heels, your back straight and your chest lifted throughout the exercise.

·         Reverse the move when your thighs are parallel to the floor and return to a standing position, exhaling as you stand. Be sure not to lock your knees.

·         Focus on contracting and working the muscles of the thighs and buttocks. If you feel pain at any time, stop.

I hope that now that you have some ideas on how you can get out and get physically active that you can apply these things into your life for just 30 minutes a day and that you start to see great improvements in your life. If you do find improvements please don’t hesitate to write a comment here on this blog so that others may see the growth and change it has on other people lives.

So go on get out there.  Brendan.