When I ask patients about whether or not they exercise, I often get an answer like:
“I stand a lot at work.”
“I chase after my kids all day.”
“I have to lift heavy machinery as part of my job.”
“I walk my dog on weekends.”
These are all excellent ways to keep physically active, which we know is important for our health.
But do they count as exercise?
Physical Activity vs. Exercise
The terms physical activity and exercise are often used interchangeably; however, they’re not exactly the same. Physical activity is a more inclusive term, with exercise being one type of physical activity.
Physical activity is anything you do that requires moving your body, whether that’s at work or around the house. Essentially, anything that's not sitting/standing/laying relatively still.
Exercise is a more structured physical activity that improves cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness.
Many benefits of exercise come about through improving your fitness level - the key word being improve.
When you push your body even slightly out of its comfort zone, it’s forced to adapt. It builds and grows in ways that we still don’t fully understand. Your heart and lungs become more efficient, and your muscles and bones get stronger. Not to mention all the positive adaptations that happen in the brain.
The current Canadian guidelines for physical activity in adults promote three things:
150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week
Two muscle strengthening sessions per week
Limiting recreational screen time to under three hours a day (!) and taking frequent breaks from sitting
As a former physiotherapist, I consider moderate intensity activity and muscle strengthening to be exercise.
What Moderate Intensity Means
Now, here are two easy ways to know if what you’re doing is considered “moderate.”
First, an activity counts as moderate intensity exercise if it’s making you breathe more heavily than normal. This is the most straightforward way to know that your heart, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles are being pushed.
Bonus points if you work up a sweat.
Second, rating your own perceived level of exertion can help. If someone asked you how hard you were working during an exercise session, you’d answer “somewhat hard” for moderate intensity. Vigorous exercise would be considered hard or very hard. This article from Harvard Public Health provides a good explanation for rating perceived exertion.
I like these two methods because they’re individualized. My moderate intensity might not be yours, and vice versa. That said, moderate intensity activities can include things like walking at a brisk pace, biking with a light effort, recreational tennis, and vacuuming the house.
Physical Activity at Work
Unfortunately, having a physical job doesn’t count as exercise, although you will reap the numerous benefits that come with being physically active rather than sedentary.
Why?
The cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal systems need to be pushed to the point of adaptation to get all the benefits of exercise. This editorial points out that a large amount of daily physical activity at a low intensity can improve metabolic fitness, but not cardiorespiratory fitness.
For most people with an active job, the tasks are the same week after week. The body adapts, and the activity is no longer at a moderate intensity. This isn’t always the case. But in general, tasks at work don't gradually progress in a way that would continually force the body to adapt.
I found this to be the case as a physiotherapist working with the geriatric population in the hospital. For the first few weeks, it was taxing to help patients walk. I was sore almost every day. However, my body adapted. After about a month, I no longer felt like I was exerting myself, even though I was moving myself and other people around all day long.
One last thought: Many of my patients say that they’re too tired to exercise by the end of the day. Especially if their role is physically and/or emotionally demanding.
The main way to improve this type of fatigue is to start exercising. Exercise increases energy levels and boosts motivation.
So just start.
Go for a walk around the block at a pace where you’re breathing a bit harder than usual.
Run around with your kids until you break a sweat.
Pick an online workout video to follow for ten minutes.
Try adding any amount of exercise into your routine. But remember: something is better than nothing, and physical activity is still amazing for you!
Stay well friends,
Dr. Kuhnow
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