Why should you aim to do 1000 minutes of physical activity in a week if you’re using an activity monitor
Huge numbers of people are choosing to use new technologies to track their physical activity in an effort to meet the 150-minutes per week of physical activity at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity the government recommend. But, many are being lead to believe that they vastly exceed these recommendations, when, in fact, they aren’t doing enough activity to benefit their health.
This is because the guidelines weren’t designed to be used with new technologies.
The 150-minute target was originally suggested on top of a baseline of, so called, normal lifestyle activities. But uncertainty around what this actually means, and the desire for a simple recommendation for public health, has meant that any reference to this baseline isn’t mentioned. So, the perceived target has become simply 150-minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity a week.
This causes a problem when people monitor almost every minute of their day with an activity tracker and this so-far unknown baseline is actually measured.
According to newly available research from our partners at the University of Bath, we should be aiming for around 1000-minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity every week.
The researchers analysed free-living physical activity data from 305 men and women who had participated in research studies at the University between 2006 and 2014 that included wearing one of two highly accurate activity monitors. To make sure the data gave a true picture of each person’s lifestyle, they only included those who had collected data for at least 90% of a full 7-day period during their time as a participant. Interestingly, all of the participants met the 150-minute target set by the government, including those who said they were inactive.
The data showed that to achieve a personalised calorie burn target advocated by the World Health Organisation, people needed to do around 1000-minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity.
It is this research that forms that foundation of the physical activity guides used in KiActiv®.
We aren’t suggesting that everyone needs to find 1000 more minutes of activity every week. This new target includes all activities that make up our day, both normal lifestyle activities and the additional activity needed to gain the numerous health benefits associated with an active lifestyle.
KiActiv® motivates, engages and improves understanding, empowering self-management and successful behaviour change. This means that everyone can achieve their optimum free-living physical activity and the associated health benefits.
You can read the full research study here.
