Distinctions

Activity and exercise are not the same thing.  Understanding this can increase our fitness.  We need both in our lives.

Activity, in the sense I mean, is pretty much any movement we do.  Gardening, housework, shopping, and such are good examples.  Increasing our activity level can help us toward fitness by burning more calories than, say, sitting on the couch.  What we are tracking when we shoot for 10,000 steps per day is activity level.

Exercise, on the other hand, is a bit more work.  Our muscles need to end up tired and/or sore.  We need to get breathless.  We need to sweat.  This is where the real changes in our bodies come from.  When you get in those 30 minutes of elevated heart rate, you know you have exercised.

Sometimes we confuse activity with exercise.  When we go to the gym and walk on the treadmill while reading, we may think we are exercising.  For some of us, that kind of pace is enough to get our heart rates up and IS in fact exercise.  For others, it’s just activity, better than reading on the couch, but not enough to really increase our fitness level.

Go for it!  Get active and get exercise!