Are you tracking your minutes?
By Erin Mellinger, Fitness Together Fairlawn and Medina
When it comes to physical activity, do you ever think about or track the total minutes of activity you do?
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, adults should be getting at least 150 minutes per week of exercise to be healthy and maintain weight. For weight loss, the recommendation is 250 minutes of exercise per week or more. Some studies even suggest as much as 400 minutes per week to avoid the health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
At Fitness Together, we track total minutes per week with our clients. Not only is it a great way to keep accountable to being active, it’s also a realistic approach for anyone striving to lead an active lifestyle. On crazy busy days when it’s hard to make time for a workout, just squeeze in 10 to 15 minutes of exercise at home. On weekends or days when you have a bit more time, you can do 45 minutes to an hour.
Keeping that running total keeps you aware of your activity level and helps you stay motivated to chip away at that total daily. Be sure to keep in mind that fitting your exercise minutes in each week is not as much of a time management challenge as it is priority management.
We are all busy with things that fill our time—and exercise is one of the most unselfish ways to spend it. When you’re healthy, energetic and confident, you’ll be able to give the world your best.
Remember, physical activity means setting aside time to exert yourself and improve your fitness levels. Although things like walking the dog or a stability ball office chair are very good, it shouldn’t count toward those total minutes. More than just quantity, think about the quality of the activity you are doing.
Fitness Together is located within the Medina Signature Square Shopping Center at 3725 Medina Road, Suite #106, in Medina. The Fairlawn location is at 2890 Sand Run Parkway, Suite B. Call 330-550-9839 for more information on either location. Visit FTResults.com to see testimonials from Fitness Together clients.