An Hour A Day

Summer is finally here. Now is a great time to get outside and get some exercise. With sunset coming after 9:00pm, we even have more hours in the day to be outside. Does exercising have to be running, biking, or basketball? No, of course not. Gardening is a great exercise. Walking is another very underestimated exercise. There is also hiking, swimming, golfing (walk, not drive, the course), playing with your kids, roller blading, walking your dog, and soccer to name a few.

How much is enough? The government recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. This amounts to 30 minutes of exercise 5 days/week. But what if you are trying to lose weight or trying to prevent weight gain? A recent study originally published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that it may take an hour a day to avoid weight gain. Researchers tracked more than 34,000 women for 13 years. By the end of the study, the average woman had gained 6 pounds. The 4,540 women who gained less than 5 pounds during the study reported walking briskly or doing similar moderate exercise for roughly one hour a day throughout the study. Women who exercised for less than an hour a day were roughly 10 percent more likely to gain at least 5 pounds within about three years.

An important note: Exercise was not related to weight gain or loss in women who were overweight or obese when the study began. This suggests that preventing weight gain is critical.

Whether you are at a good weight, overweight or obese, and are in good medical condition, exercise can only help. If 30 minutes is too much, try 3 10 minutes walks spread throughout the day. Or do 20 minutes of exercise 7 days per week. One lap around Sennfeld lake is 1 mile (approximately 20 minutes). If you have several errands to run on Ledward, park your car in one spot and walk to each errand rather than drive. Make extra trips up and down the stairs. Exercise does not have to be a once a day shot. Just try to move more throughout the day.

For more information on the government's exercise recommendations, please go to http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html

A great site to see how many calories you are burning is: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php. Click on activity calculator and then enter your weight and time and click on the activity. This site has more activities than any others I found.

Hope to see you outside!