Live Healthy Live Well

How much physical activity do you get each week?

According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, the average adult needs at least:

150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity physical activity each week (i.e. aerobic or “cardio” activity that gets you breathing harder and makes your heart beat faster)

OR

75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes) of vigorous-intensity physical activity each week (i.e. aerobic or “cardio” activity that makes your heart rate and breathing increase to a point where it is difficult to talk)

That might seem like a lot of time to spend being active, but it’s really not! Think about the amount of time you spend watching TV each week. Thirty minutes of activity a day, when performed five days a week, meets the guideline. It is the equivalent of five 30-minute TV shows or one to two movies! And, experts say that those thirty daily minutes of activity can be further broken down into 10 minute segments, yet still help prevent disease and reap health benefits.

If you’re not currently meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, consider incorporating short (10-minute) segments of exercise into your workday. There are many exercises that can be done in your office or from home with no equipment required, such as:

• Squats
• Lunges
• Wall sits
• Planks
• Knee raises
• Standing crunches

If you have a sturdy desk or table, you can also do incline push-ups or triceps dips to work your arms. And, if you have a chair nearby for support, you can do leg raises (forward, backward or sideways), donkey kick-backs, or calf raises. To mix things up a little more, use paper plates as sliders and do additional exercises, such as:

• Mountain climbers
• Plank jacks
• Arm circles
• Standing leg circles
• Hamstring curls

If you don’t mind working a little harder (i.e. possibly breaking a sweat), either at home or during the workday, you can design your own 10-minute workout using a timing scheme to rotate through a few exercises of your choice. For example, you might choose to do:

• 45 seconds of an exercise with 15 seconds of rest, repeated 10x (either the same exercise or different ones).
• 30 seconds of one exercise alternated with 30 seconds of another, repeated 10x.
• An exercise ladder where you choose two exercises (A & B). Start with 10 repetitions of exercise A followed by 1 repetition of exercise B, working up/down until you end with 1 rep of exercise A and 10 reps of exercise B.

So, next time you think you don’t have enough time in your week to exercise, think again! Strive to incorporate short (10-minute) segments of activity into your day until you achieve at least 150 minutes each week.

Author: Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Franklin County, lobb.3@osu.edu

Reviewer: Misty Harmon, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Perry County, harmon.416@osu.edu

Sources:

2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. https://health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/summary.aspx.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). How much physical activity do adults need? https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm.

Moorhead, Rebecca. Work it… At Work: Exercises to Fit Into Your Work Day. Presented on February 14, 2018. Moorhead.41@osu.edu.