Importance of Moving: How the 'Talk Test' can keep you safe.
A 2018 survey from the CDC indicates that roughly 70% of people in Louisiana are either obese or overweight according to their BMI which accounts for an individual's height and weight. The worst part is that roughly 30% of people also reported performing no leisure time physical activity. A very brief list of the benefits of consistent exercise would include decreased risk of cardiac diseases, lower risk for numerous cancers, lower risk for diabetes, improved sleep, psychological benefits, and improved brain activity. This is an extraordinarily small snippet from a very long list of benefits of exercise.
But how much exercise should we be getting? And what kind of activities should we be participating in?
Luckily, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has guidelines for the general public to follow to promote a better quality of life. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise AND 2 days of strength training or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise AND 2 days of strength training. The nice thing is anything is considered exercise as long as you can tell that the activity is forcing your heart to work harder than it would at rest. To decide if the activity is moderate of vigorous the CDC recommends using the "talk test". This means that if your feel your heart beating faster but you're still able to have a conversation relatively easilty then that activity counts as "moderate intensity". If you are moving and would have a difficult time conversing then this is considered "vigorous activity". Though 150 minutes sounds like a lot of time, think of this as 30 minutes per day throughout the work week. Then the weekend is lagniappe.
Now what?
We are the Orthopedic Center for Sports Medicine, want to encourage everyone to keep moving. Find an activity you enjoy and have fun moving. The more you keep moving now, the more likely it is that you'll be moving much later in life as well.