Weight Debate

Choosing a physical activity that you love to do will make it easier to stick with it. Give your body the benefits of physical activity while you are having fun!! Some for kids, some for adults, and some for both kids and adutls, here are a few ideas to get your body moving…

1. Acrobatics
2. Aerobics
3. Archery
4. Badminton
5. Ballet
6. Baseball
7. Basketball

8. Baton Twirling
9. Bicycling

10. Bodyboarding – sometimes called Boogieboarding.
11. Bowling read more »

To get health benefits from physical activity, you have to include activities that make you breathe harder and make your heart and blood vessels healthier, like aerobic activities. Dancing is a great aerobic activity.

Dancing has a lot of benefits for your health, and it’s fun!! Dancing may help you to:

• Improve your flexibility, coordination, and agility.
• Tone your muscles.
• Make your bones stronger and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
• Make your lungs work better.
• Make your heart stronger.

read more »

You should talk to your doctor before you start being physically active:

• If you have high cholesterol.
• If you have high blood pressure.
• If you have a personal or family history of heart disease.
• If you have a chronic disease or if you have risk factors for a chronic disease, such as diabetes or asthma.

read more »

Some people are afraid to be physically active after they have had a heart attack. The good news is… regular, moderate physical activity can

• Help reduce a persons risk of having another heart attack.
• Improve a persons chances of survival.
• Help a person to perform everyday tasks more easily and to do so without chest pain or shortness of breath.

If you have already had a heart attack, it is very important for you to talk with your doctor. read more »

Both physical activity and exercise refer to the voluntary movements you do that burn calories.

Physical Activities
Physical activities are activities that get your body moving such as gardening, walking the dog, raking leaves, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Exercise
Exercise is a form of physical activity that is specifically planned, structured, and repetitive such as weight training, tai chi, or an aerobics class.

Physical activity and exercise are both important and can help improve your ability to do the everyday activities you enjoy.

There are many ways to be active every day. Find something you enjoy doing, include it in your regular routine, and try to increase your level of activity over time.

All adults should avoid inactivity. Some physical activity is better than none, and adults who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits.

Adults with disabilities, who are able to, should get at least:

• 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate intensity aerobic (endurance) activity
  OR
• 75 minutes a week of vigorous intensity aerobic activity
  OR
• An equivalent combination of moderate intensity and vigorous intensity aerobic activity

Aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes, and preferably, it should be spread throughout the week.

Also, adults with disabilities, who are able to, should do muscle strengthening (resistance) activities of moderate or high intensity that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.

When adults with disabilities are not able to meet the Guidelines, they should engage in regular physical activity according to their abilities and should avoid inactivity.

Adults with disabilities should consult their doctor about the amounts and types of physical activity that are appropriate for their abilities.

Being physically active is one of the most important steps that people of all ages can take to improve their health, along with eating a healthy diet to promote good health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

Aerobic activity is also called endurance activity or cardio activity.

During aerobic activity, your body’s large muscles move in a rhythmic manner for a sustained period of time. Aerobic activities cause your heart to beat faster than usual to meet the demands of your body’s movement. Aerobic activities also require your body to use more oxygen. Over time, regular aerobic activity makes your heart and cardiovascular system stronger and fitter.

Aerobic physical activity has three components:

1. Intensity - or how hard you work to do the activity:

• Moderate intensity - As a rule of thumb, a person doing moderate intensity aerobic activity may make you breathe harder and make it more difficult to talk, but you should still be able to carry on a conversation. If you are just beginning, slowly work up to moving at a moderate intensity pace. Some examples:
  Walking briskly (3 miles per hour or faster, but not race-walking)
  Water aerobics
  Bicycling slower than 10 miles per hour
  Tennis (doubles)
  Ballroom dancing
  General gardening
• Vigorous intensity - As a rule of thumb, a person doing vigorous intensity activity cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. Some examples:
  Racewalking, jogging, or running
  Swimming laps
  Tennis (singles)
  Aerobic dancing
  Bicycling 10 miles per hour or faster
  Jumping rope
  Heavy gardening (continuous digging or hoeing, with heart rate increases)
  Hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack
  Rock climbing
  Training to run a 10K for charity

2. Frequency - or how often you do an aerobic activity.

3. Duration - or how long you do an activity in any one session.

Although these components make up a physical activity profile, it is shown that the total amount of physical activity (for example, minutes of moderate intensity physical activity) is more important for achieving health benefits than is any one component, such as frequency, intensity, or duration.

Experts recommend at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of moderate intensity physical activity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) of vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity per week, preferably spread throughout the week. You don’t need to do all of your exercise at once to be physically active. 3 days a week produces health benefits, and may help to reduce the risk of injury and avoid excessive fatigue. You may break up your activity into shorter segments of 10 minutes or more. Episodes of this duration are known to improve cardiovascular fitness and some risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Moderate intensity or vigorous intensity physical activities that last for at least 10 minutes count toward meeting the weekly recommendation.

Adults can do either moderate intensity or vigorous intensity aerobic activities, or a combination of both. It takes less time to get the same benefit from vigorous intensity activities as from moderate intensity activities. A general rule of thumb is that 2 minutes of moderate intensity activity counts the same as 1 minute of vigorous intensity activity. For example, 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week is roughly the same as 15 minutes of vigorous intensity activity.

If you want to lose weight, you may need to do more than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week. Remember that you can be active in several shorter sessions, and that your daily activities count toward calories used.

The best exercise for your bones is weight-bearing exercises.

Your bones play many roles in your body. Your bones provide:

• Structure
• Protect organs
• Anchor muscles
• Store calcium

Adequate calcium consumption and weight bearing physical activity early in life builds strong bones, optimizes bone mass, and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life.

Weight-bearing exercises are any activity that a person performs that works bones and muscles against gravity.

Some examples of weight-bearing exercises include:

• Basketball
• Carrying a child
• Climbing stairs
• Dancing
• Field Hockey
• Gymnastics
• Hiking
• Jogging
• Jumping rope
• Racquetball
• Running
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Walking
• Weight training, weight lifting

Examples of exercises that are not weight-bearing include swimming and bicycling. Although swimming and bicycling help build and maintain strong muscles and have excellent cardiovascular benefits, they are not the best way to exercise your bones.

Adults should engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week.

Children should engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week.

If you have health problems – such as heart trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity – or if you are age 40 or older, check with your doctor before you begin any regular exercise program.

Vigorous physical activity is recommended for improved cardiorespiratory fitness, but moderate physical activity also can have significant health benefits, including a decreased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

For people who are inactive, even small increases in physical activity are associated with measurable health benefits.

Moderate physical activity is more readily adopted and maintained than vigorous physical activity.

As research continues to illustrate the links between physical activity and selected health outcomes, people will be able to choose physical activity patterns optimally suited to individual preferences, health risks, and physiologic benefits.

It is recommended to do 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week, and you can break up the 30 minutes of activity by doing 10 minutes of activity three different times of the day.

Some Moderate Activities
You can talk while you do these, but you can’t sing:

• Ballroom and line dancing
• Biking on level ground or with few hills
• Canoeing
• General gardening (raking, trimming shrubs)
• Sports where you catch and throw (baseball, softball, volleyball)
• Tennis (doubles)
• Using your manual wheelchair
• Using hand cyclers – also called ergometers
• Walking briskly
• Water aerobics
• Hiking
• Golf – walking and carrying clubs
• Weight training – general light workout

Everyone should avoid inactivity. Some physical activity is better than none, and those who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits. To do physical activity safely and reduce the risk of injuries and other adverse events, you should:

• Understand the risks and yet be confident that physical activity is safe for almost everyone.
• Choose to do types of physical activity that are appropriate for your current fitness level and health goals, because some activities are safer than others.
• Increase physical activity gradually over time whenever more activity is necessary to meet guidelines or health goals. Inactive people should start low and go slow by gradually increasing how often and how long activities are done.
• Protect yourself by using appropriate gear and sports equipment, looking for safe environments, following rules and policies, and making sensible choices about when, where, and how to be active.
• Be under the care of a doctor if you have chronic conditions or symptoms. People with chronic conditions and symptoms should consult their doctor about the types and amounts of activity appropriate for them.