Physical activity is extremely important. Not only does it benefit your overall health, but there are studies to show that some people lose weight with increased physical activity and for most people the increased physical activity helps to maintain weight that has already been lost. The US dietary guidelines recommend:

1. For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes, and preferably, it should be spread throughout the week.

2. For additional and more extensive health benefits, adults should increase their aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity. Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond this amount.

3. Adults should also include muscle-strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.

So how does a person go about starting to do these things? I have put together a long list of resources from YouTube, websites, and apps on your phone to assist you with increasing your physical activity. These are videos or instructions that you follow along. Gyms are great but many people do not like going to the gym so there are bodyweight exercises that you can do within the security of your own home.

Barre3 online

YouTube blogilates

Sweat with Kayla app

Beach body 21 day fix 30 min

Down dog for yoga app

Yoga with Adriene

Fitness blender

Benderfitness.com

Peloton app

Zumba on YouTube

Nike fitness app

Body boss

Body fit by Amy on YouTube

Hasfit.com – Low impact exercises

Popsugar.com/workouts

Be fit on YouTube

The fitness Marshall on YouTube

Tone it up

Pilatesanytime website

Liveexercise.com

Doyouyogawithme.com/yoga-classes

YouTube.com/Willmillion

Seth Jarrell, MD