Physical Activity Essay

Physical Activity and Health
Katy Wichmann
11/22/12
Pedometer Assignment One obvious trend I noticed across both weeks was that my lowest number of steps was on Sunday. The other trend I noticed was that when I was able to get a good amount of sleep the night before my step count always seemed higher. I supposed this is because I had more energy to make it to all my classes. I also seemed to have been more aware or self-conscious about how active I was during the day. If I felt like I was falling behind on my goal I would walk around aimlessly in my apartment or find reasons to go outside and walk until I reached a step count that I felt more comfortable ending my day at. The first week I had started doing the pedometer assignment I still had not been cleared from my knee injury by my doctor to participate in exercise activities so I did not meet the guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. I could have been stretching and at least doing resistance training on my upper body but I did not doing any of that either my first week so I also did not meet the guidelines of two to three days of resistance training or stretching 3 plus days per week. At the start of my second week I was finally cleared to start engaging in some physical activity. I met the guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity and the 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity by participating in cardio 5 days of that week and did a total of 250 minutes of combined vigorous and moderate activity. I exceeded the guidelines of two to three days of resistance training by participating in 4 days of resistance training by working my major muscle groups such as the legs, glutes, triceps, biceps, chest, abs, and back. I also stretched 5 out of the 7 days during that week as well. I only participated in structured exercise