In 2011, the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines were revised — this is what resulted in a lot of media panic over kids’ inactivity; the recommendations stated that kids should be getting a minimum of 60 min per day of activity.
For adults, the guide says,
“Adults age 18 to 64 should strive to accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity per week, in bouts of 10 minutes or more”
The reason this matters to me right now is because I am participating in a study on exercise adherence; the call went out looking for “couch potatoes” which I figured included me. Starting tomorrow, I will be wearing an accelerometer (a fancy self-contained motion sensor monitor on an elastic belt) for a week, presumably as a benchmark.
To prepare, I spent the last week aiming for that 150 minute minimum. I thought I had exceeded it after today’s 90 minute orientation** to the weight room at Cedar Hill Rec Centre, but here’s the thing: strength training doesn’t count toward that total — it’s supposed to be in addition to the cardio/aerobic activity.
Oh well, without it I am off by about 5-10 minutes (which I could get past by adding yoga tomorrow morning), and really with the amount of walking I do — even in the mornings to get to the bus is almost enough (about 8-9 minutes; if I walked over Summit, it would be 15 minutes so I might start doing that). Technically for this study, commuting and daily activity stuff doesn’t count either. Harumph. So anyway….
The bulk of my activity is managed through morning yoga routines, something I can do at home, at 6 am, thanks to YouTube. I have a playlist — some are better than others and some I am more likely to do without complaint. When I first run through a sequence there is a good chance I will direct some amount of snark at the video. However, a 20-30 minute sequence generally gets my heart-rate and breathing up to moderate aerobic levels for the intended duration.
A walk around ring road takes about 25 minutes — I can likely fit in one of those a week — and otherwise some brisk walks (nearby, the trail around the Cedar Hill Rec Centre and Golf Course is 3.7 km) or some cycling (once I tidy and tune up my bike) should round things out. Of course I still need to do the strength training just to round things out.
I’m also tracking things in a spreadsheet/diary so I can get into the habit of paying attention to what I am doing and look at my eating habits over time. Handy, as I can barely remember what I ate yesterday! (Thank goodness for Google Docs that I can access from anywhere!)
The study participants are randomized into three groups — two get a presentation (presumably with instructions, suggestions for success, and so on) and the other is on their own. I just got my notification today that I get to be part of one of the presentation groups. Hurrah!
I’ll post more about this study and my progress along the way… but that is the plan for now.
**The reason I did the orientation was because Kiddo had to get through that as a youth before being allowed to drop-in. The bonus of all this will be getting her to be a little more active, and help her gain some strength too. However, I actually learned a fair bit, which will make it easier when I do workout there!