The amount of physical activity recommended for adults is 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, along with muscle-strengthening activity of all muscle groups twice a week. Alternatively, one may get 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week with muscle strengthening twice a week. A mixture of moderate and vigorous activity is also acceptable. Doing ten minutes of activity at a time still counts toward the weekly total. Only 54% of people in Illinois get the recommended amount of physical activity while 24% do not get any leisure-time activity, based on data from 2013.
So what is moderate and vigorous activity? Activity levels can be roughly assessed using breathing and heart rate. With moderate activity, one can talk in sentences, while with vigorous activity one can only say a few words before needing to take a breath. Using heart rate as a guide, moderate activity is when the heart rate reaches 50–70% of maximum for one’s age, and 70–85% is considered vigorous activity. Maximum heart rate is computed as 220 minus age. Increasing heart rate to the maximum and beyond is not necessary.
Activities that are considered moderate intensity include walking between 3–4.5 mph, hiking, biking 5–9 mph, yoga and dancing, to name a few. Housework, including scrubbing the floor or bathtub on hands and knees, washing windows and sweeping also are moderately-vigorous activities. Vigorous activity examples include walking, jogging or running more than 5 mph, biking over 10 mph, competitive ballroom dancing and other competitive sports. Household vigorous activity includes moving heavy furniture, carrying 50 pounds or more and shoveling more than 10 pounds a minute. A more extensive list of activities can be found here.