For health benefits and successful weight management, 30-60 or more minutes of daily physical activity is recommended. How close are you to meeting this recommendation? To develop a physical activity profile, begin by monitoring your activities on a typical day. Complete the chart below by filling in your activities and the amount of time you spend on each one; in addition, keep track of the number of flights of stairs you climb. Be sure the activities in your log total 24 hours. Classify each activity as sleep or as light, moderate, or vigorous according to the following guidelines:
Light activities—most sitting and standing activities: Attending class; studying; using a computer; watching TV; listening to music; talking on the phone; eating meals; walking slowly; driving; most child-care activities; light housework such as ironing, cooking, dusting, vacuuming; light yard work or home repair such as pruning, weeding, plumbing; office work, sales, or another occupational activity involving sitting or standing and movement of little more than hands.
Moderate activities—breathing rate increases but comfortable conversation is possible: Walking moderately or briskly; cycling moderately; active play with children or pushing a stroller; moderate housework such as scrubbing floors, washing windows; moderate yard work or home repair such as planting, raking, painting, wallpapering; hand-washing a car; waiting tables, washing dishes, or another occupational activity involving extended periods of moderate effort; social dancing; fitness activities requiring moderate effort such as low-impact aerobic dance, Frisbee, recreational swimming, hitting a punching bag.
Vigorous activities—too out of breath to talk easily: Walking briskly uphill; heavy housework such as moving furniture or carrying heavy items upstairs; vigorous yard work or home activities such as shoveling snow, trimming trees, hand-sawing; heavy construction work or digging; fitness activities requiring vigorous effort, such as jogging or running, high-impact aerobics dance, circuit weight training, swimming laps, most competitive sports.
| Activity | Duration | Classification |
| Number of flights of stairs: | flights |
Physical Activity Summary (should total 24 hours)
| Sleep: | hours |
| Light activity: | hours |
| Moderate activity: | hours |
| Vigorous activity: | hours |
If you want to increase the amount of moderate or vigorous physical activity in your life, begin by analyzing the amount of time you spend in each intensity category according to the type of activity:
| Light activity | Moderate activity | Vigorous activity | |
| Home and child-care activities | hours | hours | hours |
| School- or job-related activities | hours | hours | hours |
| Transportation-related activities | hours | hours | hours |
| Leisure activities | hours | hours | hours |
| Exercise/sport activities | hours | hours | hours |
Increasing Daily Physical Activity
How much of your time in transportation-related activities and leisure activities is classified as light activity? Transportation and leisure activities are often the areas where it is easiest to substitute moderate activities for light activities. Examples include walking or biking rather than driving for short errands and going for a walk with a friend rather than chatting on the phone; refer to your text for additional suggestions. Below, identify three strategies for boosting physical activity in your daily life.
| 1. | |
| 2. | |
| 3. |
Can you also identify additional opportunities to climb stairs each day? If so, list them here.
Your next step is to begin to adopt the strategies you've identified to increase physical activity. To monitor your progress, keep a daily journal of your physical activity based on the style of the charts shown in this worksheet.