Aine Tunney • Oct 13, 2020

Physical Activity

Physical Activity

“If exercise could be packed into a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.” – Dr. Robert Butler

This is a great infographic from Ireland Active, summarising the ideal daily dose of physical activity we all should be achieving (from the “National Physical Activity Plan for Ireland 2017”). 

Way back in 1985, Carl Caspersen and colleagues described physical activity and exercise:

  • “Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure. The energy expenditure can be measured in kilocalories. Physical activity in daily life can be categorised into occupational, sports, conditioning, household, or other activities. Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. Physical fitness is a set of attributes that are either health- or skill-related. The degree to which people have these attributes can be measured with specific tests.”

This all means that you don’t have to play sport or be a “sporty” person to get in that optimal daily dose of physical activity. It is so easy to get into the habit of getting up in the morning, going to school/work, come home, do homework and/or watch TV, some nights go to an exercise class, have dinner, relax and go to bed. And repeat. We need to get more physical activity into our daily routine, not just when our instructor tells us to do another round of burpees! A healthy diet and eating well, good sleeping patterns and overall good well-being are also majorly important. Have you ever found that being more physically active helps you make better food choices and sleep better? 

It is up to us to decide on the best way to be more physically active in our daily lives. If you don’t know were to start or are wary of more activity due to injury or pain, please contact you Chartered Physiotherapist.

  Aine Tunney MISCP

References:

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