why physical activity is important

what is physical activity

Physical activity simply means movement of the body that uses energy. Walking,
gardening, briskly pushing a baby stroller, climbing the stairs, playing soccer, or
dancing the night away are all good examples of being active. For health benefits,
 physical activity should be moderate or vigorous intensity.
Moderate physical activities include:
Walking briskly (about 3½ miles per hour)
Bicycling (less than 10 miles per hour)
General gardening (raking, trimming shrubs)
Dancing
Golf (walking and carrying clubs)
Water aerobics
Canoeing
Tennis (doubles)

Vigorous physical activities include:
Running/jogging (5 miles per hour)
Walking very fast (4½ miles per hour)
Bicycling (more than 10 miles per hour)
Heavy yard work, such as chopping wood
Swimming (freestyle laps)
Aerobics
Basketball (competitive)
Tennis (singles)






You can choose moderate or vigorous intensity activities, or a mix of both each week.
Activities can be considered vigorous, moderate, or light in intensity. This depends on
 the extent to which they make you breathe harder and your heart beat faster.
Only moderate and vigorous intensity activities count toward meeting your physical

activity needs. With vigorous activities, you get similar health benefits in half the time it
 takes you with moderate ones. You can replace some or all of your moderate activity with vigorous activity. Although you are moving, light intensity activities do not increase your
heart rate, so you should not count these towards meeting the physical activity
recommendations. These activities include walking at a casual pace, such as while
grocery shopping, and doing light household chores.


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