Activity can be graded in terms of oxygen consumption in liters per minute or - of greater interest to most people - in calories spent per kilogram (2.2 pounds) per hour. Of course, rates vary with age, sex, physical condition, environment, degree of competitiveness, skill, and training.
Light Activities -
Normal office or housework, shopping; occupations involving light physical work (lab, restaurant, hospital, carpentry); yoga, bowling, golf, conoeing 2 1/2 mph, purposeful walking on level ground 2 1/2-3 mph. Insufficient for weight control or fitness as heart rate seldom exceeds 110 per minute.
Moderate to Heavy Activities -
Working as a general laborer, farming, heavy housework such as scrubbing floors, normal gardening; volleyball, tennis badminton, walking 4-5 mph, cycling 5-10 mph. All get the sedentary and over 35 into the target zone. Average people spend 1 hour or less in such activities per day.
Heavy Activities -
Skating, climbing stairs, basketball, rowing, swimming, squash. Sustained energy expenditure seldom lasts more than 20 minutes, and few get into this range during a normal day. However, farming, lumbering, walking uphill with a heavy load, result in similar energy output. Very Heavy (over 12 calories/kilogram/hour). Heart rate nears maximum.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
JANUARY 6
