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ew would argue the Ffact that regular physiâ€" cal activity has been shown to reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases, including hypertension (high blood pressure}, stroke, coronary artery disâ€" ease, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer and osteoporosis in addition to improving one‘s quality of life. According to the Canadiâ€" an Society of Exercise Physiâ€" ology, to reduce the risk of chronic disease, it is recomâ€" mended that adults accuâ€" mulate at least 60 minutes of moderateâ€"intensity physâ€" ical activity on most, preferâ€" ably all, days of the week. At this point you are likely wondering how you could possibly perform 60 minâ€" utes of physical activity conâ€" secutively, let alone find a free hour in your busy day. Health and fitness are not the same Before these thoughts cause you to stop reading this article, let me emphaâ€" size the magnificence of CSEP‘s recommendation and what researchers have discovered about exercise. The key to health and chronic disease prevention is the accumulation of daily physical activity. Further notice about the specifics of the type of physical activity is also missing. Sure, some activities are indeed better than others, but the term "better" is speâ€" cific to one‘s goals. For carâ€" diovascular health, activities that use large muscle mass and rhythmic motions such as walking, biking and swimming are great, but this doesn‘t mean other forms of physical activity aren‘t effecâ€" In fact, any activity that gets you moving will do just fine. I have intentionally been avoiding the use of the term exercise. Exercise is typically assoâ€" ciated with pain, sweat and, in some cases, misery. By using the term physical activity we encompass things such as gardening, washing the car, dancing, playing with children and even housework. To understand why these activities, even in small amounts, are great for our health we must first underâ€" stand that multiple short bouts of physical activity provide all the health beneâ€" fits of a single long bout of physical activity. How can this be? If we separate the terms health and fitness this will make more sense. Health is defined by the World Health Organization as, "a total physical and psyâ€" chological sense of wellâ€" being and not merely the absence of disease." Fitness on the other hand is tied closely to physiâ€" cal performance and sport such as the ability to run quickly or for long periods of time. A regular walker or hiker can therefore be every bit as healthy as a marathon runner despite lacking the fitness attributes that allow the runner to complete a race in a limited amount of of this would be comparing blood pressure and blood cholesterol between runâ€" ners and walkers. Assuming that other lifestyle, diet and genetics are similar, the results of these tests would be similar and doctors would give each a clean bill of health with respect to these measures. How does one train for health or fitness? Different intensities and types of exercise confer different benefits. Vigorous physical activity (running and sprinting) proâ€" vides greater benefits for physical fitness than does moderate physical activity {walking) and burns more calories per unit of time. Resistance exercise (such as weight training, using weight machines and resistâ€" ance band workouts) increases muscular strength and endurance and mainâ€" tains or increases muscle These benefits are seen in adolescents, adults and older adults who perform resistance exercises on two or more days per week. Also, weightâ€"bearing exercise has the potential to reduce the risk of osteoâ€" porosis by increasing peak bone mass during growth, maintaining peak bone mass during adulthood and reducing the rate of bone loss during aging. In addiâ€" tion, regular exercise can help prevent falls, which is of particular importance for older adults. It is important to recogâ€" nize that the intensity of exercise is relative to the individual and not the activâ€" ity. Thus brisk walking for an inactive individual with excess weight may be the same relative intensity as jogging for an avid runner. Thus a heavier individual should expect to experience elevated breathing and heart rate at lower intensiâ€" ties than a lighter or more fit individual. The barrier often given for a failure to be physically active is lack of time. Setting aside 60 consecutive minâ€" utes each day for planned exercise is one way to obtain physical activity, but it is not A more concrete example the only way. Physical activiâ€" ty may include short bouts (10â€"minute bouts) of modâ€" erateâ€"intensity activity. The accumulated total is what is important â€" both for health and for weight management. Physical activity can be accumulated through three to six fiveâ€"10 minute bouts over the course of a day. Consider incorporating both longer bouts and shorter accumulated bouts of activity into your day to increase your odds of achieving 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Pedometers are great for Drew Harvey is the measuring the accumulaâ€" founder and director of tion of physical activity. Healthy Weights. It does not matter if Contact him at physical activity comes from _ drew@healthyweights.ca, or household chores, a walk, a visit his website at hike or a run. Further, a www.healthyweights.ca. pedometer provides motivaâ€" tion, reminds us to spend less time sitting and rewards us for all activity. Remember, what matters is accumulation of physical activity and every step counts. ~ Changing our minds about what counts as exerâ€" cise can be motivating, rewarding and when you realize that all activity counts, you might just have the best kept yard and cleanest house on the block. WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, November 14, 2007 * 17