2.5: Guidance for your current level of physical activity

Are you inactive, insufficiently active, active, or highly active? Below is guidance specifically for your current fitness level.

Inactive means not getting any moderate- or vigorous intensity physical activity beyond basic movement from daily life activities.

• For people who are inactive, that is, people who do not do any moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity beyond basic movement from daily life activities:
  • Reducing sedentary behavior has health benefits. It reduces the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality, and the incidence of type 2 diabetes and some cancers. A good first step is to replace sedentary behavior with light-intensity physical activity. Previously, evidence that light intensity physical activity could provide health benefits was not sufficient to support a recommendation.
  • No matter how much time they spend in sedentary behavior or light-intensity activity, inactive people can reduce their health risks by gradually increasing their moderate-intensity physical activity.

Insufficiently active means doing some moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity but less than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity or the equivalent combination. This level is less than the target range for meeting the key guidelines for adults.

• For people who are insufficiently active, that is, people who do some moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity, but who do not yet meet the key guidelines target range (150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity for adults):
  • Even small increases in moderate-intensity physical activity provide health benefits. There is no threshold that must be exceeded before benefits begin to occur.
  • Greater benefits can be achieved by reducing sedentary behavior, increasing moderate-intensity physical activity, or a combination of both.
  • For any given increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, the relative gain in benefits is greater for insufficiently active people than for people who are already meeting the key guidelines.

Active means doing the equivalent of 150 minutes to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. This level meets the key guideline target range for adults.

• For people who are active, that is, people who already meet the key guidelines (150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity for adults):
  • Although those within the target range already have substantial benefits from their current volume of physical activity, more benefits can be gained by doing additional moderate-to-vigorous physical activity or reducing sedentary behavior.

Highly active means doing the equivalent of more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. This level exceeds the key guideline target range for adults.

• For people who are highly active, that is, people who do more than the equivalent of 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity:
  • These people should maintain or increase their activity level by doing a variety of activities.

Exercise Safely

Key Guidelines for Safe Physical Activity include:

• Be confident that physical activity can be safe for almost everyone, yet recognized that activities may have risks.
• Choose physical activities that are appropriate for your current fitness level.
• Increase physical activity gradually over time. Inactive people should “start low and go slow” by starting with lower intensity activities and gradually increasing how often and how long activities are done.
• Take precautions when exercising to minimize risk. This might include using appropriate gear and sports equipment, choosing safe environments, following rules and policies, and making sensible choices about when, where, and how to be active.
• If you have chronic conditions or symptoms, be sure to consult with a health care professional or physical activity specialist to discuss the types and amounts of activity appropriate for you.

Assess Your Physical Activity Readiness

To help ensure you are of good physical health to start an exercise program, you are recommended to complete the. The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone, called the PAR-Q+. This questionnaire is intended to determine if there are any underlying health issues that should be discussed with a doctor before starting an exercise program.

Take the PAR-Q+ test

Warm Up and Cool Down

Although the health benefits of including a warm-up and cool down are not yet proven, research studies of effective exercise programs typically include warm-up and cool-down activities. Warming up before and cooling down after exercise are commonly recommended to prevent injuries and adverse cardiac events. A warmup before moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic activity allows a gradual increase in heart rate and breathing at the start of the episode of activity. A cool-down after activity allows a gradual heart rate decrease at the end of the session.