Are you a weekend warrior? Though I applaud your enthusiasm, perhaps it would be in your best interests to consider participating in more consistent moderate exercise, as muscle and bone strengthening at least 2 days a week are part and parcel of a healthy exercise regimen to minimize self-injury. (My confession – much to my own husband’s chagrin, I too, have participated rather gleefully in some weekend warrior action of my own!)
This brings us to the following question – just how much daily exercise should you be getting?
The Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology (CSEP) is the leading Canadian scientific authority on exercise physiology, health and fitness. They are the governing body responsible for establishing the recommended exercise guidelines for all Canadians. You can check out these exercise guidelines here.
To highlight some of the most relevant take home points for you:
Healthy adults between 18-64 years are encouraged to participate in a variety of physical activities above and beyond the physical activities accumulated in the course of daily living.
Just to remind you, exercise reduces your risk of premature death, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, colon cancer, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis (to name but a few of the health benefits). In general, more exercise = higher level of fitness = improved lean body mass composition = better moods and to boot, a better ability to handle stress!
The CSEP recommends healthy adults between the age of 18-64 accumulate 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity aerobic physical exercise each week for a minimum of 10 minute intervals.
Over the course of the week, that means investing approximately 22 minutes each day, which isn’t so hard in the grand scheme of the day. I am sure if we were all completely honest with ourselves, we could each find 22 minutes everyday and swamp putzing around with more beneficial time on what I like to call “project save your knees“!
Worried this may be too much to start? Don’t be. For one, you can still reap benefits even investing less than 20 minutes each day. (Some movement is definitely better than none!) Secondly, your Naturopathic Doctor can help you increase your duration, frequency and intensity as part of your comprehensive total health care plan. We can discuss with you strategies to make incorporation of exercise both manageable, sustainable, and something that becomes routinely incorporated into your lifestyle.
Dr. J. Ancheta Goguen, BSc (Hons), ND 