Week 2
Physical Activity 1
WHY IS EXERCISE IMPORTANT?
PHYSICAL HEALTH BENEFITS
• Helps control weight; burns calories and maintains muscle mass.
• Strengthens muscles and bones.
• Improves the ability to do daily activities.
• Reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some cancers.
• Improves sleep quality.
MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS
• Reduces stress
• Improves mood; helps you feel better generally, relieves mild to moderate anxiety / depression.
• Improves or maintains brain health – helps thinking, learning and judgement skills.
Week 2
Physical Activity 1
WHY IS EXERCISE IMPORTANT?
PHYSICAL HEALTH BENEFITS
• Helps control weight; burns calories and maintains muscle mass.
• Strengthens muscles and bones.
• Improves the ability to do daily activities.
• Reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some cancers.
• Improves sleep quality.
MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS
• Reduces stress
• Improves mood; helps you feel better generally, relieves mild to moderate anxiety / depression.
• Improves or maintains brain health – helps thinking, learning and judgement skills.
How much and what type of exercise is needed?
• Adults should move more and sit less throughout the day. Some physical activity is better than none.
• Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity gain
some health benefits.
• For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150-300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75-150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or some combination of the two.
• Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.
What could an effective weekly plan look
like for you?
Three ways to assess exercise intensity
Physical response
Heart rate, breathing rate and sweating: Are these at resting levels, only slightly elevated, or significantly elevated. We will get into specific heart rate guidelines in session 8, for now just pay attention to whether it seems slightly elevated, or more significantly elevated.
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale
Numbers 0-10 are correlated with descriptions of exercise intensity levels, Use the scale to describe how hard you feel like you are working.
Talk Test
Reflects how hard you are breathing by how well you can use your voice. Can you sing, talk in full sentences, or only a few words or short phrases?
How to Assess Exercise Intensity
