Measure Exercise As A Vital Sign

Like the vital signs of body weight, height, blood pressure and temperature, consider physical activity as your fifth vital sign.

You’ll want to monitor that last vital sign and make sure it’s within normal range.

Why? Because It’s so imperative for our health and well-being!

So how do we know if its within normal range?

Well, based on the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines, they say that most adults should engage in a weekly amount of:

1. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (55-70% max HR)
2. 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity or some combination of moderate and vigorous activity (70-90% max HR)
3. 2 days of resistance

But remember, this is by no means a recipe that you need to follow but rather a recommended guideline (like your fruits and vegetable intake). It’s here to help you understand that we shouldn’t just focus on one aspect of exercising (running). We should be well rounded and engage in resistance, endurance, flexibility and strength/power exercises. This will give us the maximum health benefits because we are stressing the whole system, to be healthier, stronger and fitter. Remember if we only target one area, then we only get certain benefits from that one exercise.

So my last cliche question is, how’s your fifth vital sign looking?