Activity Recommendations

I encourage clients to follow the guidelines introduced by Health Canada, Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living (1998) which was introduced to help Canadians with physical activity choices. It is recommended by scientists that an individual should accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity for health benefits. The Activity Guide recommends:

1. Endurance (cardio)-4 to 7 days per week of continuous activity for the heart, lungs and circulatory system. Time recommendations are as follows: 60 minutes for light effort activities such as strolling, 30 to 60 minutes for moderate effort activities such as brisk walking or biking and 20 to 30 minutes for vigorous effort activities such as aerobics or running.
2. Flexibility-4 to 7 days per week of gentle stretching for joint mobility and to keep muscles relaxed.
3. Strength-2 to 4 days per week of resistance activity for muscle and bone strength and to improve posture.

For my American friends, the American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) has also established quidelines for basic levels of physical activity. These guidelines are as follows:

1. Cardiovascular activity-recommendations to accomplish 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity on most days of the week. The 30 minutes do not have to be consecutive. In other words, it is accumulative. You can do 2 15 minute sessions or 3 10 minute sessions.
2. Muscular conditioning-perform 1 set of 8 to 12 repititions of resistance training moves for the entire body to maintain and develop muscular strength and endurance.
3. Flexibility-should be performed daily with stretches for all of the major muscle groups for mobility.

So we have 2 different sets of guidelines that are similar in some ways and different in others. Both were developed to encourage physical activity in populations that have become increasingly inactive over the decades. The main message delivered by both is that we need to do cardiovascular activities, such as walking and running, for our heart and lungs, strength training for our muscles, bones and joints and flexibility activities (stretching) to keep our muscles supple and our joints mobile.

Through the use of these 2 sets of guidelines putting a fitness program together can be fairly simple or very complicated. You need to be sure the 3 main elements are present in the proper proportions. Not everyone fits into the same category in physical activity so programs need to fit the individual. Everyone has their own fitness level that they can begin at and everyone has their own individual needs. Some people have certain limitations which need to be considered when they are about to start a fitness program. Another consideration is the likes and dislikes of the individual. Not everyone is going to enjoy the same activity. So finding the right program for an individual can present a challenge when presented with different variables.