Specialists from the Republican Center for Strengthening Health and Mass Communication shared recommendations on what physical activity should be included in daily life to maintain health and well-being at any stage of life.
As experts note, physical activity encompasses any movements that require muscle work and expend energy, including physical exertion at work, during leisure time, and in daily tasks.
There are three levels of physical exertion:
Low level of activity – corresponds to a state of rest, for example, during sleep or when a person is reading while lying down.
Moderate level of activity – is a state when the heart rate increases slightly, and there is mild shortness of breath, for example, during brisk walking, morning exercises, or swimming.
High level of activity – characterized by a significant increase in heart rate and sweating, for example, during running, aerobics, or climbing uphill.
Aerobic activities are long and low-intensity workouts that should be performed 3-5 times a week with breaks of 1-2 days.
Examples of aerobic activities:
- Walking
- Running
- Water aerobics
- Dancing
- Biking.
Examples of anaerobic activities:
- Weightlifting
- Jumping rope
- Rock climbing
- Stair climbing, etc.
The minimum physical activity should be 30 minutes a day, which will help strengthen the cardiovascular system. This time can be accumulated throughout the day; however, one session should last at least 10 minutes, which will total 150 minutes a week.
- Playing volleyball for 45 minutes
- Biking 8 km in 30 minutes
- Dancing for 30 minutes (active dancing)
- Walking 3 km in 30 minutes
- Swimming for 20 minutes
- Playing basketball for 20 minutes
- Running 1.5-2 km in 15 minutes
- Stair climbing for 15 minutes.
Regular physical activity of 150 minutes a week (or 2 hours and 30 minutes) helps reduce the following risks:
- premature death;
- ischemic heart disease and stroke;
- hypertension;
- type II diabetes;
- depression;
- osteoporosis.
- colon cancer;
- breast cancer;
- overweight.
energy consumed = energy expended on metabolism + physical activity.
For children and youth aged 5-17 years, it is recommended to engage in moderate to high-intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day.
For adults aged 18-64 years, it is suggested to have 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise.
For older adults aged 65 and over, a similar level of activity is recommended: 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of high intensity per week.
