I believe that we need to stay active in order to live healthier and happier. But how do you know how much is enough and which activity is best?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every week. In addition, this activity should include muscle-strengthening exercise on 2 or more days a week that work the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. They add that going beyond the recommended minimums will return even greater health benefits.
The CDC defines Aerobic activity as anything that gets you breathing harder and your heart beating faster. This includes pushing a lawn mower, taking a dance class and biking to the store. All types of activities count as long as you're doing them at a moderate or vigorous intensity for at least 10 minutes at a time. But how do you know if you're doing light, moderate, or vigorous intensity aerobic activities?
Again, the CDC defines moderate-intensity aerobic activity as working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. Some examples of activities that require moderate effort are walking fast, riding a bike on level ground and playing doubles tennis. Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity means you're breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit. Some examples of activities that require vigorous effort include jogging or running, riding a bike fast or on hills and playing singles tennis.
There are a multitude of ways to achieve these activity levels; however, I want to focus on playing Tennis to stay active and healthy. Previously, I cited information from various sources that this sport can be part of a healthy lifestyle. I believe this to be true based on the information presented and my own personal experiences.
I’ve always assumed that I was getting a significant amount of exercise from my activities; however, this assumption was always based on some gut feeling rather than an objective measure. To correct this, I purchased a Fitbit activity tracker which does a very good job of tracking my activity level. Fitbit will record many data points and these items can be tracked over time so you can measure your progress.
The first item to pop up is steps taken. Fitbit has a default recommendation of 10,000 steps per day which meets the CDC minimum level of activity. Based on your steps, Fitbit will calculate the distance covered in a day. My goal is to exceed 10,000 steps every day and get 20,000 steps as many days as I can. The 20,000 steps translates into approximately 10 miles.
Another important item to consider is your Heart Rate which is tracked throughout the day. The heart rate can be viewed in graphical form and the levels recorded are divided into various categories including fat burn, cardio and peak (which are listed in increasing order of intensity). At the end of the day, I like to check the total amounts of minutes spent in each of these categories.
I mentioned earlier that the CDC states that activity should be of sufficient intensity for at least 10 minutes at a time in order to produce the desired impact. Fitbit records your Minutes Active when your activity is more strenuous than regular walking for at least 10 minutes. At the end of the day, I check to see if I have met or exceeded the CDC recommendation of a minimum of 20-30 active minutes.
So, how much activity have I seen while playing tennis? As one measure, I average 7,500 steps (approximately 3.5 miles) when I participate in our 90 minute Cardio Tennis drill. I am on the court 4-5 hours per day 6 days per week and the majority of my activity comes from playing Tennis. Last week, I took over 150,000 steps and covered more than 70 miles. It is fair to say that you can maintain a high level of activity from this sport and easily exceed the CDC minimum levels.
You should also know that I work out at the YMCA 2-3 times per week. I use a variety of exercises to work the major muscle groups in order to prevent injury and enhance my Tennis game. However, I do not enjoy these sessions nearly as much as my time on the court.
Fitbit is certainly not the only activity tracking device on the market. It is the one with which I am most familiar and it more than meets my needs. It would be helpful to know if other products offer more advantages.
One of the best things you can do to maintain your workout routines is to share them with others who have similar goals and aspirations. Soon, I hope to start a Fitbit Challenge with others at our Tennis club so that we can collectively achieve our ambitions and have fun while we do so. If you have done this, please let me know.
Have I missed anything? If so, let me know what you think.
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