Module 4: Active vs Sedentary Lifestyle

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN FROM THIS MODULE?

At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. Explain the factors that cause sedentary and active lifestyles;
2. Calculate your Metabolic Equivalent (MET); and
3. Propose ways on how to sustain an active lifestyle.

WHAT IS THIS MODULE ALL ABOUT?

This module is designed for you to assess and evaluate your lifestyle as a
student: active or sedentary. While college life is expected to be highly academically
demanding, you should realize that being engaged in regular physical activities will help
you overcome academic struggles and anxieties. This module will help you balance
academic life and physical fitness.
Despite the many benefits of a physically active lifestyle, many people
particularly students like you are not active enough to benefit your health. Other
individuals who start structured or regular exercise routines relapse within six
months.This is because exercise behaviors are influenced by human cognition
(thinking) such as expectations, intention, beliefs, and attitude. Also, it is influenced by
external stimuli such as social pressure and experiences.You may intend and be
motivated to be physically active but internal and external forces may prevent you from
engaging in exercise.

What makes up a ‘lifestyle’?

What you do in your life that makes you comfortable or you find pleasure in doing
it, when consistently repeated becomes your lifestyle. It is expressed in both your work
and leisure behavior patterns and in your choice of activities, attitudes, interests,
opinions, values, and allocation of income. Lifestyle also reflects your self-image the
way you see yourself and believe they are seen by the others.

Actions
Behaviors Lifestyle
(Repeated Actions) (consistent behaviors)

What is a sedentary lifestyle?

 A sedentary lifestyle is defined as a type of lifestyle where an individual does not
receive regular amounts of physical activity. If you keep on sitting or lying down while
engaged in an activity like reading, socializing, watching television, playing video
games, or using a mobile phone, laptop computer for much of the day, you are living
sedentarily. Where physical inactivity is considered the failure to meet the
recommendations of health and wellness standards stating that you should participate
in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of a more vigorous
regimen. Most health professionals are also in agreement that walking 10,000 steps a
day (approximately 5 miles) is the ideal goal to set for improving health and reducing the
health risks caused by inactivity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60
to 85% of the population worldwide does not engage in enough activity. Making physical
inactivity the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality.

What are the effects of a sedentary lifestyle? John Hopkins Medicine

 Physical inactivity may increase the risks of certain cancers.

 Physical inactivity may contribute to anxiety and depression.
 Physical inactivity has been shown to be a risk factor for certain cardiovascular
diseases.
 People who engage in more physical activity are less likely to develop coronary
heart disease.
 People who are more active are less likely to be overweight or obese.
 Sitting too much may cause a decrease in skeletal muscle mass.
 Physical inactivity is linked to high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol
levels.

What is an active lifestyle?

Active lifestyle is a way of life that integrates physical activity into your everyday
routines, such as walking to the store, jogging or biking to visit a friend. Also, when you
combine physical activity and recreation activities, and make it a habit, you must have
an active lifestyle.

What are the effects of an active lifestyle?

1. Controlling Your Weight. Several people begin to exercise to shed a few

pounds. When you are actively maintaining a regular fitness regime, you will be able to
control your weight in a healthy way. Burning calories and working up a good sweat will
help you lose any extra weight you may have and keep it off.
 2. Combating Disease. Exercise will raise your heartbeat regularly, which is an
important part to combating heart disease as well as heart attacks. In addition, you will
see lowered blood pressure and a boost in your good cholesterol, high-density
lipoprotein, as well as a decrease in the unhealthy triglycerides. The combination of the
three of these will keep your blood flow healthy and clear. Furthermore, regular exercise
will help prevent or significantly lower your risk of stroke, arthritis, diabetes, depression
and certain cancers

3. Boosting Your Energy. Although you might feel tired after a long, hard work
out, you will begin to notice an overall boost in your day-to-day energy. As you become
fit, you will find you have more energy to get yourself through your day. In addition, you
will be able to deliver more oxygen to your cells and your cardiovascular system
allowing them to function at higher levels and for longer periods of time.

4. Sleeping Better. If you are looking for a great night’s sleep, wearing yourself
out through a long period of physical engagement will be the perfect way to do so.
Whether you are struggling with insomnia or even just staying asleep, feeling physically
tired will help you fall asleep faster. Also, your sleep will be deeper and you will stay
asleep longer. Just be sure to exercise far from your regular bedtime or you might find
that you are too energized to fall asleep.

Introducing Metabolic Equivalent (MET)

MET is one way to estimate how many calories are burned during physical
activity. Having a basic understanding of MET and how to use them can help you
determine the best physical activities to help you achieve health and fitness goals.
Muscle cells use oxygen to help produce the energy to fuel contractions; the more
oxygen you consume during (and after) exercise, the more calories you will burn. The
human body expends approximately 5 calories of energy to consume 1 liter of oxygen.
The more oxygen your body uses during physical activity, the more calories you will
burn. METs are used to estimate the energy expenditure for many common physical
activities. One MET is an individual’s resting metabolic rate (RMR) and is approximately
3.5 milliliters of oxygen consumed per kilogram bodyweight per minute (mL/kg/min) and
represents the amount of oxygen used by the body while at rest such as what you are
doing right now while reading. An activity that is 4 METs requires the body to use
approximately four times as much oxygen than when at rest, which means it requires
more energy and burns more calories.

Here are five things that you need to understand about METs and how to use
them when designing programs for your personal needs:

1. The Compendium of Physical Activity identifies MET values for a wide

variety of physical activities.

Researchers have assigned MET values for everything from many common
types of exercise to relatively obscure activities like pulling a rickshaw. For example,
walking at a moderate pace of 2.8-3.2 miles per hour (mph) on a level, firm surface is
approximately 3.5 METs, which means that the body is using 3.5 times the amount of
oxygen than is required when sitting still at rest. Running at 7.0 mph, which allows you
to cover one mile in approximately 8.5 minutes, has a MET value of 11.0 (meaning your
body uses approximately three times the amount of oxygen used while walking and 11
times more oxygen than sitting at rest). By the way, pulling a rickshaw is 6.3 METs.

2. If you know the MET value of a physical activity, the duration of that
activity and a little about the person participating in the activity, you can estimate
how many calories a minute that individual should burn doing that activity.
 Ask your client to pick a favorite physical activity or mode of exercise and plug
the MET value into the formula below to see how many calories they burn per minute
and whether or not they should increase the level of intensity or duration to help achieve
a specific goal like weight loss:

 METs x 3.5 x BW (kg) / 200 = Kcal/min.

 For example, Shane is a 40-year old male who weighs 195 pounds. You can use
this formula to determine how many calories per minute he uses during some of
his regular activities:
o 2 hours of bicycling @ 12.0 mph (METs: 8.0)
o 8.0 x 3.5 x 88.6 / 200 = 12.4 Kcal/min x 120 = 1488 Kcal
o 45 minutes of resistance training – explosive effort (METs: 5.0)
o 5.0 x 3.5 x 88.6 / 200 = 7.8 Kcal/min x 45 = 351 Kcal

3. One pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories of energy.

Using the formula, you can determine how long it would be necessary to perform
a given activity to burn the equivalent of 1 pound of fat. For example, using the example
above, Shane would have to ride his bike at 12 mph, which burns 12.4 calories per
minute, for 283 minutes to burn one pound of fat. If his goal is to lose 10 pounds of body
fat, he will have to cycle for 2,830 minutes or 47 hours, which is more than the
equivalent of a full week of work.

4. Sit or stand? Many organizations are starting to realize the health

benefits of providing employees with standing desks.

Using the MET values for sitting and standing, we can see that Shane can burn
almost 30 percent MORE calories by simply standing instead of sitting for one hour.
Taking it a step further, we can see that it will take Shane about 1,250 minutes
(approximately 21 hours) of standing to burn 1 pound of fat.

 Standing at work for 40 min. compared to sitting at work for 60 min.

o 1.8 x 3.5 x 88.6 / 200 = 2.8 Kcal/min x 40 = 112 Kcal
o 1.3 x 3.5 x 88.6 / 200 = 2 Kcal/min x 60 = 120 Kcal
o 1 pound of fat - 3,500 calories / 2.8 Kcal/min = 1,250 minutes

5. If you want to help your clients maximize their energy expenditure, look
at their activities of daily living to see which ones burn the most calories.

Doing chores, while not exactly fun, can be physically demanding and an
excellent way to burn additional calories without having to carve out time for a separate
exercise session.

The values in the Compendium do not estimate the energy cost of [physical
activity] in individuals in ways that account for differences in body mass, adiposity, age,
sex, efficiency of movement, geographic and environmental conditions in which the
activities are performed. The true energy cost for an individual may or may not be close
to the stated mean MET value as presented.” In other words, MET values can provide a
broad estimate for how many calories are being used, but it isn’t exact. However, they
still can be helpful in planning more efficient workouts and estimating how many calories
are being used during a wide range of activities, including yard work, running errands or
hitting the gym for your favorite workout.
Here is a table of MET values for many popular activities:
From the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities

Activity METs
Bicycling; 12-13.9 mph (leisure, moderate effort) 8.0
Bicycling; mountain-biking, uphill, vigorous effort 14.0
Stationary cycling; (moderate-to-vigorous effort / 90-100 watts) 6.8
Circuit training, including kettle bells, vigorous intensity, minimal 8.0
rest
Resistance (weight) training – squats, explosive effort 5.0
Resistance (weight) training – multiple exercises, 8-15 reps 3.5
Jumping rope 12.3
Hatha Yoga 2.5
Home activity – cleaning, sweeping, moderate effort 3.5
Home activity – laundry – folding, putting away clothes (incl. 2.3
walking)
Playing w/children, moderate effort (only active periods) 3.5
Gardening – general, moderate effort 3.8
Running – 6 mph (10 min./mile) 9.8
Running – 14 mph (4.3 min./mile) 23.0
Tennis – singles 8.0
Basketball – general 6.5
Walking for exercise – brisk pace (3.5 mph) 4.3
Swimming laps – freestyle/crawl light – moderate effort 5.8
Hiking (hills w/10-20lb. load) 7.3
Exercise/activity-based video game – moderate effort (e.g. Wii 3.8
Fit)
Video-exercise (DVD/TV) cardio-resistance, moderate effort 4.0
Sitting – at desk / watching TV / reading 1.3
Standing – working on computer / reading / talking on phone 1.8

Are You Fit for Your Age?

The amount and intensity of physical activity is equally important. There is a set target
of fitness for us to meet as we continue to age. For example, did you know that a fifteen
year old girl should be capable of raising her metabolism 13 times her resting state or
that a women 65 years should be capable of raising hers to 6. Prevention is all about
fitness. I’m not talking about competitiveness I’m talking about getting involved in
regular physical activity. Setting a goal to achieve your MET target that will lower your
risk of disease and enhance your quality of life.

METs (Metabolic Equivalents)

Standard metabolic equivalent (MET) is a unit used to estimate the amount of
oxygen used by the body during physical activity. 1 MET = the energy (oxygen) used by
the body at rest, while sitting quietly or laying down. The harder your body works during
an activity, the more oxygen is consumed and the higher the MET level you are
performing at.

Guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine states that we need
to exercise 150 minutes (2.5 hrs) per week at a moderate intensity. Moderate intensity
is raising your metabolism 4 times your resting state (4 METs) which means we need a
minimum of 10 METs per week (2.5 x 4 = 10) to lower our risk of disease. How many
METs did you achieved this week? The chart below shows MET targets for selected
age groups.
 Female Male
Age MET target Age METs target
20 12.1 20 12.5
25 11.4 25 11.9
30 10.8 30 11.4
35 10.1 35 10.8
40 9.5 40 10.3
45 8.8 45 9.7
50 8.2 50 9.2
55 7.5 55 8.6
60 6.9 60 8.1
65 6.2 65 7.5
70 5.6 70 7
75 4.9 75 6.4
80 4.3 80 5.9
Programme Progress:
4 months 10 METs
8 months 15 METs
12 months 20 METs

1. Reducing Stress. Working out is a great way to relieve stress from a tough
day at work or a challenge you are facing in your life. Building up a sweat releases a
chemical in your body called norepinephrine, which is your body’s natural way of
fighting and moderating stress.

2. Improving Self-Confidence. Getting in shape is an easy way to boost your

self-confidence. Whether it is to stay fit or shed a few pounds, you will feel great after
every exercise session.

3. Sharpening Your Memory. Maintaining a regular fitness regime will improve

your memory as well as your ability to learn new things. Working up a sweat will enable
your body to produce more cells in the hippocampus – the area of the brain where
memory and learning takes place.

4. Increasing Relaxation. Even after a long day, allowing yourself to have a

moderate workout will help you stay calm and feel more relaxed. Working out will also
release endorphins, which will help you curb any anxiety you could be facing. Either
way, when you need to feel more relaxed, go for a short jog or walk.

5. Preventing Cognitive Decline. As you age, your brain will begin to decline in
its functions and abilities. Although regular exercise is not a cure for this or mental
health issues such as Alzheimer’s, those who practice regular exercise between the
ages of 25-45 will boost the chemical production in the brain. Having this regular boost
in your youth will help your brain maintain its function and abilities longer.

I DARE YOU

1. List down the exercises or physical activities that you can find in a gym. After
which, find an alternative exercise or physical activity that you can do at home
or in school.
 Exercises or activities in the gym Alternative activities that can be
done at home or in school

2. Based from your personal assessment, do you think you should change your
lifestyle? Describe the ideal transformation.

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3. Calculate your MET

Calculating Personal MET Values
MET Weight Minutes Activity
level
0.90 Sleeping
1 Awake, resting quietly, any quite sitting activity
1.5 Active sitting activities
2 Walking slowly, grooming, light housework(2.5 METs)
3 Jobs that require mostly standing walking 2.5 mph
4 Recreational sports, heavy cleaning
5 Gardening, tasks that involve lifting
6 High-intensity recreational activities such as dancing,
badminton, swimming, volleyball, basketball
7 Jogging or running above 5.5 mph; many competitive
sports
8 High- intensity running, basketball, badminton,
swimming

BOTTOM LINE
 Loving yourself means you have to take good care of your well-being starting
with your lifestyle. This is particularly challenging when you are regular or a working
student. You need to balance your academic life and your commitment to be physically
active.