This year in Australia achieving and maintaining regular physical activity has been a challenge. In a year where the messaging has been all about staying put the enforced restrictions have challenged those with the greatest intentions.
First the bush fires in January filled the air with smoke prohibiting any outdoor exercise across much of rural and metropolitan Australia. Seaside and country holidays were cancelled. This was immediately followed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All community sport stopped, gyms closed, sporting events and festivals were cancelled. The Olympics were cancelled.
We were left with nothing but time to sit, watch, read, eat and sleep... repeat. We moved from the work screen to the entertainment screen without actually moving. The same restrictions on human behaviour required to stop a viral spread also put a quick end to healthy habits and good intentions leaving boredom, apathy, loneliness and frustration in its wake.
Seeing playgrounds and public workout stations taped up made me sad. Having studied and worked in public health, the last thing our society needs is to be forced to move less. The promotion of screen-time as the only way to communicate, learn, work and stay connected was jarring, hard to comprehend and hard to enforce particularly to children, employees, and lovers of sport, the gym, yoga and HIIT classes.
For some people the one hour of outdoor time inspired a new-found daily routine of exercise and provided time away from the desk or the kids, or the parents or the housemates. For others it was a chance to socially connect and be out and among people, either way it was precious time.
Every year across the globe, physical inactivity substantially contributes to the total disease burden being complicit in non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, dementia, coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer.
On all counts it seems counter-intuitive, un-fathomable at any time to stop people from exercising, from being physically active. Except in a pandemic. The enforced restrictions challenged even those with the greatest intention to stay active.
What we have missed most of all, probably without even knowing, is the incidental activity. Incidental activity is defined as any physical activity accumulated in small amounts over the course of day; The walk to the train, the walk from classroom to classroom, meeting to meeting. Taking the stairs, walking across car parks. Stepping out for lunch or shopping or gardening, cleaning the house, waiting tables, serving customers, fixing things, having sex and just generally going about our physical day According to Prof. Stamatakis "Even brief sessions of 20 seconds of stair climbing (60 steps) three times a day on three days a week over six weeks can lead to measurable improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness" (BJSM 2019).
Now is the time to get back on the proverbial horse if you fell off. It’s time to get active again. And not just walking. Yes, walking is good, a daily 10,000 steps is a great target but we need more. We need to move in every way. Its what we are designed to do, to pick up things of various weight, to lift, carry, jump and run. After what we have experienced this year its clear that physical activity is important, that it doesn’t have to be structured, in a class or hours long, it just has to be consistent and varied. The outdoor variety is good and doing it with a friend or a group is good too. An individual focus can be motivating and setting goals can help you get out of bed. Now, more than ever, its times to find what physical activity you enjoy and do it.
For the Record, here are the recommended amounts of physical activity as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (2017) and the Australian Institute of Health and Well-being (2018)…this amount has scientifically shown to protect against non-communicative disease. AND while it wont protect you against catching a virus it may make you more resilient in recovery.
THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES
• Children aged 2–5 =180 minutes of physical activity per day
• Children and adolescents aged 5–17 =at least 60 minutes of Moderate to vigorous physical activity per day
• Adults18–64 years=150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity across 5 or more days in the last week- 2 sessions (minimum) spent in resistance training.
• Adults 65+years= 30 minutes of physical activity per day on 5 or more days per week. @ session of resistance training.
ENJOY!
REFERENCES
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