Physical Activity

:-PHYSICAL ACTIVITY-:

What is physical activity

Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.It includes exercise and incidental activity integrated into daily activity. This integrated activity may not be planned, structured, repetitive or purposeful for the improvement of fitness, and may include activities such as walking to the local shop, cleaning, working, active transport  Lack of physical activity is associated with a range of negative health outcomes whereas increased physical activity can improve physical Dr.defines physical activity as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure – including activities undertaken while working, playing, carrying out household chores, travelling, and engaging in recreational pursuits.The term "physical activity" should not be confused with "exercise", which is a subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and aims to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness. Beyond exercise, any other physical activity that is done during leisure time, for transport to get to and from places, or as part of a person’s work, has a health benefit. Further, both moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity improve health.

Benefits of physical activity and risk of insufficient physical activity

Regular physical activity of moderate intensity – such as walking, cycling, or doing sports – has significant benefits for health. At all ages, the benefits of being physically active outweigh potential harm, for example through accidents. Some physical activity is better than doing none. By becoming more active throughout the day in relatively simple ways, people can quite easily achieve the recommended activity levels.

"EXERCISE " and "physical activity" are frequently used interchangeably and generally refer to physical activity performed during leisure time with the primary purpose of improving or maintaining physical fitness, physical performance, or health. Physical activity is not exactly the same concept as exercise. Exercise is defined as a subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposeful in the sense that the improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is the objective Conversely, physical activity includes exercise but may also be unplanned, unstructured, random and non-purposeful carried out for a multitude of reasons.

Physical activity can be at any intensity, from a simple twitch of a muscle, to an all out sprint. For practicality, physical activity can be viewed as a continuum from sedentary  to vigorous intensity activity. Intensities are broadly categorized according to energy expenditure using a standard measure of intensity, metabolic equivalents The broad categories are sedentary  behaviour, light activity, moderate activity and vigorous activity.