Physical Activity vs.
Exercise: What’s the Difference?
Provided
by American
Council on Exercise
How
did you spend your last 24 hours? What do you do during a typical 24-hour
weekday? Take a few moments and divide up those 24 hours and reflect on how you
typically spend that time. How many hours did you spend sleeping? How many
hours did you spend sitting down (don’t forget the times you sit in the car,
while you eat, etc.)? How many hours did you spend moving?
Once
you have completed your 24-hour self-reflection activity, think more
specifically about your movement time. What type of movement did you do? What
was the intensity and intentionality of that movement?
Over
the past few decades, Americans have heard over and over that a minimum of 30 minutes
of daily exercise is essential to good health. However, the latest research
suggests that how much time we spend sitting could be just as important as how
much time we spend exercising. In fact, a new term has been coined to describe
those who exercise, but spend the majority of their days being sedentary:
active couch potatoes.
While
the term couch potato usually refers to a lazy person who prefers to
just sit around and watch TV, an active
couch potato refers
to someone who is inactive for the majority of the day, but regularly makes
sure to get in 30 minutes of exercise on most days. An active couch potato is
not necessarily lazy, but spend most of his or her time sitting during leisure
time, work (and commuting to and from work) and while eating meals. In other
words, they’re almost completely physically inactive throughout the
day, with the exception of that 30 or minutes of daily exercise. Although 30
minutes of exercise is absolutely beneficial and healthful, the rest of the day
is causing tremendous health hazards. In fact, the World Health Organization
(WHO) has identified physical inactivity as an independent risk factor for
chronic disease development, and it is now the fourth
leading cause of death worldwide.
So,
exactly how do we differentiate between exercise and being physically active?
And is the distinction important? Here are some definitions that should help
clear things up:
Physical
activity is
movement that is carried out by the skeletal muscles that requires energy. In
other words, any movement one does is actually physical activity.
Exercise, however, is planned,
structured, repetitive and intentional movement intended to improve or maintain
physical fitness. Exercise is a subcategory of physical activity.
Research
provides significant evidence that ALL physical activity
positively contributes to overall health and well-being. Exercise also assists
with the improvement of physical fitness, which consists of five specific
components:
-Cardiorespiratory
fitness
-Muscular
strength fitness
-Muscular
endurance fitness
-Flexibility
fitness
-Body
composition
This
graphic from the American Institute for Cancer Research visually depicts the
importance of both daily physical activity AND structured exercise (in relation
to cancer indicators). Here, the green reflects structured exercise, while the
yellow reflects daily physical activity.
Source: American Institute for Cancer Research
How
Can You Become More Physically Active?
An
easy way to start transforming a sedentary lifestyle into a more active one is
to begin standing more and sitting less. If you work at a desk all day, create
a workstation that requires you to stand (and therefore move more). Think about
creating opportunities to walk at lunchtime and before or after work. Consider
adding leisure time activities to your weekly routines, especially those that
involve the whole family, such as bike rides, hikes and walks around the
neighborhood. What about your home? Do you enjoy gardening? Make time for it
throughout the week instead of leaving it all to the weekend. And instead of
dedicating just one day every other week to clean, try to include daily active
chores that take 10 minutes or less. When you engage with technology,
creatively think about how you can move. Try placing some simple equipment like
a yoga mat or resistance ball or resistance bands in your living room so they
are easily accessible while watching TV. There are countless opportunities
to increase daily physical activity, but you do have to look
for them.
As
you evaluate your 24-hour activity reflection, consider making a detailed plan
that includes both elements:
1.
Daily increased physical activity
2.
Structured, planned, intentional exercise to improve physical fitness
Omitting
one or the other can have serious and detrimental consequences for your health,
fitness and overall well-being. Don’t be a couch potato or an active couch
potato—make the change today and add BOTH elements to your life to reap the
life-changing benefits of physical activity and exercise.
AUTHOR
Dominique Gummelt, PhD
Dominique is a director of university wellness, an
international speaker, certified personal trainer (ACE), wellness
practitioner (NWI), lecturer, author, filmmaker, hobby photographer and
musician. She was awarded 'Top 11 Personal
Trainers to Watch in the U.S.' (2011) by
Life Fitness and ACE. In 2016, the U.S. President's Council on Fitness, Sports
& Nutrition recognized Dominique with the 'Community
Leadership Award' for
health promotion. She was also one of the first certified 'Exercise-is-Medicine
Specialists' (Level 1) through the American College of Sports
Medicine (ACSM).
Also in 2017 she made her successful debut as executive
producer and producer of a wellness transformation short documentary,
which has earned two 'Awards
of Merit', 'Official Filmmaker Selection' and a '3rd place
win' at various film festivals. She is passionate about
helping others to live better, happier, healthier and more meaningful
lives to the fullest potential!