One in four U.S. adults are sitting for longer than eight hours each day, and this lack of activity is bad for mental and physical health. The American Heart Association, the leading voluntary health organization focused on heart and brain health for all, is urging adults to move more and sit less throughout the day.
“For too many of us, our daily routines have become more sedentary over the past year due to the pandemic, making it even more important to find ways to increase physical activity in our day, ” said Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP, the American Heart Association’s chief medical officer for prevention. “Any movement is better than no movement, and more is better. Even small breaks of activity throughout the day will benefit health and reduce stress.”
The American Heart Association’s Move More initiative, which encourages physical activity for better physical and mental health, kicking off in April, is a great time to commit to building in more activity. Here are some ideas to move more throughout the day:
For adults, the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic activity such as brisk walking or gardening, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity such as running or aerobic dancing, or a combination of both intensity level activities. In addition, the Association recommends two days of moderate-to high-intensity muscle strengthening activity weekly, such as resistance training.
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