150 active minutes per week

[Sabrina2628]

The recommendation is 150 moderate active minutes or 75 vigorous active minutes per week. I usually have 300-500 active fitbit minutes per week. What I would like to know is: say I have logged 300 active minutes in 4 days. Can I be sedentary for the rest of the week?? I do walk its not like I sit on the couch all day but is it okay to have 0 active minutes for the other 3 days, since I allready have 300 active minutes in that week? 

[WavyDavey]

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@Sabrina2628wrote:

The recommendation is 150 moderate active minutes or 75 vigorous active minutes per week. I usually have 300-500 active fitbit minutes per week. What I would like to know is: say I have logged 300 active minutes in 4 days. Can I be sedentary for the rest of the week?? I do walk its not like I sit on the couch all day but is it okay to have 0 active minutes for the other 3 days, since I allready have 300 active minutes in that week? 

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Hi @Sabrina2628,

This isn't an easy question to answer.

On the positive side, you're getting plenty of active minutes, and taking a day or two off shouldn't make much of a difference. I don't think your fitness level would decline much in that short of time.

On the other hand, you may find it more difficult to keep activity levels consistent if you're sedentary for days at a time. Personally, I find that my body seems to do better when activity is more evenly spaced, almost every day.

From Fitbit: 

"By default, you are given a starting goal of 30 active minutes a day based on the CDC recommendation of 20-30 minutes of daily moderate-to-intense activity"

Consistency is important, and I think activity on a daily basis is best for that. I think of diet the same way---I eat 3 or more meals a day. But if I eat one huge meal and skip the other two, the results aren't as good or predictable.

But that's just one opinion.

[Sabrina2628]

Is see what you mean. I hardly ever have days with 0 active minutes. Was just wondering how the reccomendation works. 150 active minutes per week. Of course spacing them out evenly seems best but healthwise would it be fine to just chill the other days when you’ve reached your week reccomandation? Can’t find real info regarding this. Of course being active every day is best but I have real real active days and then some less active days and sometimes even with only 5000 steps and 0 active minutes. I see this as my rest days since my week active minutes are pretty high weekly. Just wanted some Info on this matter 

[WavyDavey]

I looked around and couldn't really find information on this either.

Considering you're getting at least the recommended amount per week, I think you'll be fine the way you're doing it.  Rest days are a good idea, to let your body catch up. 🙂

[Sabrina2628]

That’s what I tell myself ☺️ Enjoy your rest days your body needs them. There are weeks (most of the time) that I don’t have any rest days I always achieve my active minute goals. This makes it much harder if I do have Maybe 2 days in a week with zero active minutes and hardly any steps. If there was any real data regarding this maybe I could really feel at ease when these non-active days happen 🙇‍:female_sign: Oh well 

[bbarrera]

@Sabrina2628 The actual guidelines from the CDC are:

• 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 activity, or an equivalence 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.
• 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 equivalence combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity. Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond this amount.
• Adults also should do muscle-strengthening activities that are moderate- or high-intensity and involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/prevention/policies_practices/physical_activity/guidelines.htm

Note the 75/150/300 weekly minutes isn't active minutes, its moderate or vigorous intensity aerobic activity.

My preferred cardio is cycling, usually 300-600 minutes a week. That breaks down to 5 days of riding, nothing less than 60 minutes in a single session. Usually log about 150 miles a week on flat terrain. Plus I do at least two days of strength training. Every fourth week is a recovery week, I still ride but am not pushing hard.

The rule of thumb is to recover as hard as you train. For my cycling workouts that leaves me with two days off, and one day of easy active recovery riding.

Rest days are essential if you are working hard, no matter if its running, cycling, swimming, or weight lifting. Activity trackers push a daily number, without considering the overall training stress you are putting on your  body. If you are training hard, I'd recommend you consciously decide to ignore the 10,000 steps a day goal and make sure to get enough rest days to allow your body to adapt and become stronger.