Current Recommendations for Physical Activity for Health and Wellness

So, where to start? I thought it would be appropriate to begin by laying out some of the current guidelines for physical activity which physicians (at least this future physician!) are encouraged to use to educate patients. The American College of Sports Medicine updated the following guidelines in 2007, and these are also a part of the US government's "Healthy People 2020" recommendations:

 1) A minimum of 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise 5 days a week or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise 3 days a week. Combinations of moderate and vigorous exercise may be used to meet this recommendation.

 What is moderate vs. vigorous? Without performing exercise testing, it's hard to determine an exact number for this, but in general we can say that "Moderate" means you are exercising at 50% of your maximum aerobic capacity (50% VO2max). "Vigorous" would be at higher intensity levels, such as 75% of your aerobic capacity.

 Examples of moderate exercise are: biking slowly, canoeing, dancing, gardening (raking or trimming shrubs), single's tennis, walking briskly, water aerobics

 2) Alternatively to #1, it's ok to accumulate 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of aerobic exercise per week. This means you can break down the 30 minutes of exercise into 3 10 minute intervals, or 2 15 minute intervals, with the smallest interval at 10 minutes.

 3) Include moderately-intense resistance training of major muscle groups at least 2 days per week. What's important is that you target each major muscle group: legs, hips, back, chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms and that you do 8-12 reps per session. What counts as resistance training? Heavy gardening (digging, shoveling), weight training, resistance bands, push ups/sit ups/squats

 So, again, these are minimum guidelines for all adults! Quite a schedule! I know what you are thinking after reading this--I dont have time! I haven't been active in a long time! It sounds expensive! 

You can do this! Here are some techniques to get you going:
1) Build up over time. Start slowly, do what you are capable of, especially if you have not been active for a while. After a few weeks/months do these activities more often or for longer times.
 2) The easiest way to add physical activity is to walk briskly. Start by trying to do 10 minutes/day a few days a week at first. Build slowly--add another day, do 15 minutes instead of 10, then pick up the pace!

 What are the health implications of regular exercise? Here's an abbreviated list
1) Enhanced sense of well-being.
2) Retardation of loss of work capacity, strength, and balance that occur with age **Take note parents!**
3) Better accommodation of stress
4) Prevention or reversal of risk factors for many chronic diseases

 I'd like to elaborate more on the beneficial effects of exercise on chronic diseases in future posts...stay tuned!

Welcome

I heard a statistic today in lecture that stuck with me--95% of patients who are put on a diet/exercise plan by their doctor fail.

 I can't find any sources for this number, and it may have been made up by my professor in class today (I hope not!), but it opens a discussion on an aspect of medicine I am truly interested in and would like to share with anyone who is willing to listen--how do we achieve healthy living to prevent disease and promote quality of life? There is so much conflicting information presented to us about this topic by the media: Should we supplement with antioxidants? Wait, now antioxidants cause cancer? Endurance exercise is the best way to lose weight...or is it resistance training? Or is it more sleep? It's hard to know what are the exact goals we should aim for to live a "healthy lifestyle" (and it may not be the same for each person!). So, this is my attempt to share what I'm learning from my professors in medical school with family (ahem, parents!) and friends who are interested in this topic too. I'm no expert, but I hope that what I write is some reflection of the current accepted theories and practices in the medical world in 2012 and will be useful as a guide.

 So why do 95% of patients fail to reach diet/exercise goals set by their physicians? It could be because the emphasis of these interventions is on weight loss only. Healthy living is more than just losing weight. Yes, it involves eating more nutritious foods, appropriate portion sizes, and exercising regularly, all of which may lead to weight loss, but healthy living also involves a regular sleep schedule, appropriate hydration, a balance of daily activities and the sense of well-being and energy that result from following this lifestyle. The goals of healthy living should not be based solely on weight, especially because other factors, such as distribution of weight on the body's frame (pear vs. apple shape) and % body fat vs. muscle, may be better indicators of overall health than a single number-- pounds or BMI.

 So before I write a thesis here, I'd just like to say that I hope to write small nuggets in this blog every so often that will be helpful to readers who want to move closer to healthy living. Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so don't take any of this as serious medical advice, just suggestions based on what I'm learning.