WASHINGTON — Even the most ambitious runners may not be as active as people should be, according to research. Exercise is important, but staying active for the rest of the day matters, too.
The World Health Organization recommends people get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorously intense physical activity a week, said Sally Squires, who writes the Lean Plate Club™ blog. The exercise doesn’t have to be done all at once, but can be broken up into 10-minute increments.
Researchers measured the activity of three groups of people: long-distance runners, regular joggers and couch potatoes. It turns out that 32 percent of the regular joggers and 4 percent of the long-distance runners aren’t meeting WHO guidelines, Squires said.
“You might go out and run those five miles and feel so good about yourself but it matters what you do the rest of the day and I think a lot of us forget that,” Squires said.
Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to stay active throughout the day. Taking the stairs, parking the car farther away, getting off the Metro one stop earlier, and climbing up those long Metro escalators are all examples of ways to get a little more exercise.
“That means not always sending an email, that maybe you get up and you actually walk to see one of your colleagues and talk to them,” Squires said, recommending that people get up once every hour to move around the office a little.
Squires also pointed out that inactivity isn’t caused by age. People across all age groups are more sedentary because of their lifestyles.
“We have to remember it’s not just older people or middle-aged people who are not being as active,” Squires said. “Younger people are also being very inactive these days.”
