I want to exercise but…

I’m sure we’re all aware that exercise has a myriad of benefits for our health, wellbeing, and quality of life. The further along in my degree, the more amazing things I learn are associated with incorporating more physical activity into your daily routine and reducing sedentary (sitting) time. However, despite all the advantages I became aware of and all the negative outcomes failing to change my lifestyle can lead to, I was still struggling to find the motivation to exercise regularly. 

In this blog, I want to highlight some of the information that helped me change my lifestyle and increase my physical activity level.

Often we can acknowledge a need for change, whether it's because you find yourself winded going up the stairs, because of weak joints, or perhaps a desire to get stronger. We find some sort of burst in motivation but don’t know what to do with it.

How much physical activity should I be doing?

The recommended physical activity guideline for adults age 18 years and older is to accumulate 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week (plus separate sessions for strength training). Like myself, some of you might read this and realize this is nowhere close to your current activity level or maybe you can’t possibly follow the guideline. This threshold wording can be demotivating and create an all-or-none mentality around exercise. While 150 minutes of MVPA might give you the most bang-for-your-buck in terms of health benefits, this isn’t a threshold for when benefits start. Some physical activity, even if for just a few minutes a week can lead to significant changes in an individual's fitness level and health outcomes over time. This is especially true for people who are starting from zero and were previously inactive; they will see the greatest change when they first start incorporating more physical activity.

As we can see in Figure 1, the graph drops from high risk of chronic disease down to low relatively quickly after increasing physical activity level. The more physically active you are, the greater the benefits, but the rate of change slows.

Another example of a commonly stated recommendation is getting in at least 10,000 steps a day. This is easy to track these days using an app on your phone or a smartwatch or other device. However, this too doesn’t need to be strictly met to get the benefits. Research shows that walking 5,000-7,500 steps a day is not only beneficial (and is associated with greater health outcomes compared to people who had less than 5,000 steps) but may actually lead to similar changes compared to the full 10,000. Other studies suggest that walking no more than 5,000 steps a day can reduce the risk of falling in older adults.

All of this to say, some movement is better than no movement. And movement below the recommendation is still associated with health benefits.

So if physical activity lower than 150 minutes is beneficial, why is this the guideline?

While physical activity below the recommendation is certainly beneficial especially compared to inactivity, the guidelines are based on optimizing health benefits. 150 minutes of MVPA is associated with the greatest amount of benefits considering duration. For example, 150 minutes of MVPA per week is associated with approximately a 1 to 2.5 year increase in life (longevity). Again, fewer minutes is still beneficial but the goal should still be to get to doing at least 150 minutes of MVPA per week.

What is moderate to vigorous physical activity?

You can track your intensity by seeing how hard it is to talk, calculating your heart rate max (HRmax), or using exertion scales like the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale seen below (Table 1).

On this scale,12-13 is about moderate intensity and 14-17 is about vigorous intensity. You can also use percent of your HRmax which is calculated through the Tanaka equation below:

HRmax = 208 - (0.7 x age)

For example, I am 21 so my HRmax would be 193 beats per minute (bpm).

64-76% of your HRmax is moderate intensity and 77-95% is vigorous.

For a 21-year-old the range is bpm for moderate intensity and for vigorous intensity.

    If you don’t have a device to track your heart rate and don’t want to use a perceived exertion scale, you can track your difficulty talking while being active. If you can talk easily, this suggests you are working at a light intensity and should increase the intensity. If you can say short sentences, this is indicative of moderate intensity, and if you can only say 1-2 words, this is vigorous intensity.

I don’t have a gym membership or workout equipment. What should I do?

You don’t need to be in a gym or have fancy equipment to exercise. Instead of a treadmill, you can go for a walk. Instead of weights, you can use jugs or cans or a resistance band (which Freedom in Movement can provide). For strength training, you need to resist against a weight but this can be your own body weight (ex., push-ups). There are also plenty of no equipment, at-home workouts (even ones that are apartment/noise friendly). If you feel overwhelmed by your options, you can reach out to a professional, like a physiotherapist, for guidance. 

This is great but I don’t have time to be active at all?

Many of us have very busy lives. However, as mentioned, some movement is better than no movement. This includes doing calf raises at your desk, cycling to work, walking around while waiting for the bus, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, taking your kids to the park and playing with them, going for a walk with a friend instead of catching up while seated, etc. Incorporating small amounts of physical activity can have a greater benefit to your mental health, energy level, and overall health than you think. Perhaps making a schedule to visualize your day and when you might have small breaks can help. Try not to have a day where you are completely inactive; get up and do something even if it’s just a little; this will help you build and maintain the habit and gradually you may find yourself scheduling in time to exercise too.

What if I’ve had a stroke or have other health risks?

It was long thought that those with stroke and other cardiovascular diseases shouldn’t exercise due to the risk of worsening their situation. However, many studies have been conducted that not only show that these individuals CAN be active but that they should be in order to lead to the best recovery and quality of life. For stroke in particular, getting started with physiotherapy as soon as possible is critical to getting back to pre-stroke functioning and salvaging as much use from your extremities and body as possible. There are also studies that suggest that post-surgery bed rest should be replaced with doing light physical activity to improve post-surgery outcomes and recovery.

There are Canadian physical activity guidelines for different age groups. However, for those with health issues or disabilities, I would recommend speaking to your physician in order to get referred to a physiotherapist, kinesiologist, or certified clinical exercise physiologist to help you get started and find what program is best for your situation.

Get started exercising

If you are ready to go past just physical activity and start exercising (i.e., do structured and intentional movement), you can start by making SMART goals. This stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based.

An example of a smart goal could be:

You can also consider the FITT Principles when making your goal. The frequency, intensity, type, and time. For example:

Use the guidelines for your age and gender to create these goals. If you want help, a professional like a physiotherapist can get you started and help refine your personal program. Otherwise, you can start small and reevaluate your goal as you go along.

    Whether it's with a friend, partner, your family, a class, or solo, exercise can be a fun often social and destressing activity with lots of benefits for your physical and mental health, and which can help prolong your healthy, physically-independent life!

Written by: Watfa Abou Kaaf, 4th year Kinesiology student