I don’t have time. I’m tired. I don’t want to. No, these aren’t excuses children give when they don’t want to clean up their rooms. These are common reasons why grownups don’t want to exercise. According to the Centers for Disease Control, most Texans do not meet the physical activity guidelines for aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening activity. In fact, only about one in five residents of this great state of Texas recently met federal guidelines for both activities.
So how much physical activity is enough? The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults should have at least two and a half hours each week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as walking, or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, like jogging, or a combination of the two. Muscle-strengthening activities, such as push-ups or sit-ups, that involve all major muscle groups also should be done two or more days of the week.
Although Texans aren’t going to take home the blue ribbon for exercise participation, they aren’t too far behind other parts of the country in terms of adults who met the guidelines. The West had the highest number of grownups who exercise — 24 percent — followed by the Northeast at 21 percent. Overall, Hispanics and adults who are older have higher rates of non-participation. On a positive note, slightly more than half of American adults met the aerobic activity guideline and nearly 30 percent met the muscle-strengthening guideline on a national level.
Making exercise part of your daily life isn’t hard if you make it a priority. To do that, you need to develop goals and an exercise plan that matches your needs and interests. For some steps to help you define your personal goals and put them into action, visit the free, online health library on the Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake website at DoctorsHospitalDallas.com/ExerciseGoals.
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Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake
9400 Poppy Drive
Dallas, TX 75218
214-324-6100
www.doctorshospitaldallas.com