So today we’ve got two journal articles that are looking at the benefits of moderate-vigorous intensity exercise. Why do we want to do this? To prolong our healthy years. But what I found interesting in these articles is that doing more that the recommended has benefits too. So the recommendations we talked about yesterday are the “minimum” you should do and that first article says the benefits keep increasing up to 3-5 times the “minimum” or 65-108 minutes of daily moderate physical activity or 33-55 minutes of daily vigorous physical activity. They even say that there are no adverse reactions to doing 10 times the minimum (215 moderate minutes daily or 110 vigorous minutes daily). Which amazes me that they found some nutters in middle-older ages do that! Wow! I hope I’m like them when I grow up.
So the moral of the story is step 1 is to get your baseline physical activity up. Step 2 is to get the minimum moderate-vigorous intensity exercise into your daily routine. Then step 3 would be to increase from the minimum activity to 3-5 times the minimum to get the maximum health benefit of physical activity.
Whew! That’s a tall order. Just remember to make a plan like we did on step 1 and you’ll be just fine. I love check lists personally. Maybe even add in star stickers like Kindergarteners get. Or maybe you’re not so easily pleased as I am… add in some other reward for yourself into your plan when you meet your goals. Like going out to a restaurant you don’t usually get to go to. Or go to the spa. Or on a trip! Or do something fun with your kids! What makes you happy? Build those things into your plan as rewards for achieving your active lifestyle!
bria varner 
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