Physical Activity and Exercise
DEFINITION
- Physical activity: bodily movements produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that require energy expenditure beyond resting energy expenditure
- Exercise: planned, structured, and repetitive physical activity performed to improve or to maintain physical fitness, physical performance, or health
- Physical fitness: includes cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, and flexibility
- Intensity of exercise: refers to the level of effort or physiological demand required to perform the activity
- Metabolic equivalent (MET): unit to describe the energy expended during physical activity. It indexes the intensity of exercise. E.g. sitting at rest (1.0 MET), brisk walking 2.5– 4 mph or water aerobics (3.0- 5.9 MET), jogging/running >4 mph or bicycling >10mph (≥6 MET). Often expressed as MET per minute or MET per hour
- Maximum heart rate = 220 - age, preferably determined by graded exercise testing (GXT)
- Classification of physical intensity: light (35-49% of maximum heart rate or 1.1 to 2.9 METs); moderate (50-69% of maximum heart rate or 3.0 to 5.9 METs); vigorous or high (70 - 85% of maximum heart rate or ≥6 METs).
- Classification of physical activity: Inactive or sedentary (waking behaviors/basic daily activity with low energy expenditure), insufficiently active (less than 150 min moderate-intensity or 75 min vigorous-intensity per week), active (150 – 300 min moderate-intensity physical activity per week), highly active (> 300 min moderate-intensity physical activity per week)
- Typically, a person doing moderate-intensity activity can speak, but cannot sing during the activity, and a person doing vigorous-intensity activity cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.
- Aerobic exercise: repeated and continuous movement of the body’s large muscle groups for a sustained period of time (e.g. walking, bicycling, jogging, and swimming). Increases cardiorespiratory fitness. Also called endurance activity or cardio activity.
- Resistance exercise: activities that use muscular strength to move a weight or work against a resistive load (e.g. weight lifting, push-ups, use of elastic bands). Increases muscular mass, strength and bone mineral density.
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Last updated: June 7, 2021
Citation
Husni, Hasan, et al. "Physical Activity and Exercise." Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide, 2021. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547121/all/Physical_Activity_and_Exercise.
Husni H, Lazo M, Rastogi Kalyani R. Physical Activity and Exercise. Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide. 2021. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547121/all/Physical_Activity_and_Exercise. Accessed September 28, 2023.
Husni, H., Lazo, M., & Rastogi Kalyani, R. (2021). Physical Activity and Exercise. In Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547121/all/Physical_Activity_and_Exercise
Husni H, Lazo M, Rastogi Kalyani R. Physical Activity and Exercise [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide. ; 2021. [cited 2023 September 28]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547121/all/Physical_Activity_and_Exercise.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Physical Activity and Exercise
ID - 547121
A1 - Husni,Hasan,M.D.
AU - Lazo,Mariana,M.D.
AU - Rastogi Kalyani,Rita,M.D., M.H.S.
Y1 - 2021/06/07/
BT - Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide
UR - https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547121/all/Physical_Activity_and_Exercise
DB - Johns Hopkins Guides
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -