Exercise guidelines push movement, not intensity

You can run it, walk it or crawl it, but when it comes to the health benefits, a mile is just a mile.

That's the main message the government is likely to include in recommended exercise guidelines it will issue later this year as a complement to its famous food pyramid.

"I think it's an excellent idea that the government is offering exercise advice to go along with the food guide pyramid," said Toni Craft, group fitness coordinator at Fitness Plus. She added that several countries already have exercise guidelines.

The 638 pages of recommendations can be summarized in a few essential points, according to Dr. William Kraus, a Duke University cardiologist and professor of medicine. Kraus was one of 13 fitness experts who helped compile information for the guidelines.

Basically, don't sit around all day, and when you do move, you don't have to go at breakneck speed — welcome news to mall walkers everywhere.

"It appears that the most important parameter is how much exercise you do, not how hard you do it," Kraus said.

This may seem hard to believe, because running gets the heart pumping much more quickly than walking. But running a mile raises the heart rate for only about five to 10 minutes. Walking a mile elevates the heart rate less than running but can do so for twice as long.

"Whether you walk a mile, jog a mile or sprint a mile, it burns about 100 kilocalories," with the same health benefits, Kraus said.

For some benefits, particularly glucose control, walking could be better than running.

Kilocalories, conventionally referred to simply as calories, are units of energy — such as the energy stored in food and used during exercise. Consuming more calories than we burn can result in weight gain and health problems.

Ideally, the average American should walk, jog or run about nine to 10 miles a week, Kraus said. The pace affects only how quickly you want to get it over with.

Adding wheels or water changes things. To get the same benefits as walking or running one mile, you would have to bicycle five miles or swim a fifth of a mile. If bicycling were the exercise of choice, the average American should bike 45 to 50 miles a week to keep healthy and maintain weight. A swimmer would need to put in only about 2 miles a week.

Such exercise, on top of normal everyday activities, adds up to about the number of calories consumed in a week, assuming a diet of 2,000 calories a day.

To lose weight, added Kraus, you need to consume fewer calories than you burn. A pound is about 3,600 calories, so to lose a pound a week you can either cut out those 3,600 calories or burn them on top of your regular physical activity regimen.

Jeannine Taylor, 73, has been walking for exercise since the late 1980s in a suburban Raleigh, N.C., mall. She was thrilled to know her form of exercise was as beneficial as more strenuous activities.

"I have a son-in-law who does triathlons," Taylor said as she sat with her husband and a friend in the food court. "Next time I see him, I can't wait to tell him that what I'm doing is just as good as what he's doing."

The benefits of physical activity are not restricted to weight loss or cardiovascular health. The advisory committee examined a number of physical concerns, including cancer, diabetes, bone density and heart disease. Across the board, health benefits increase with the volume of exercise done, not the intensity.

"It is all about quality, not quantity," said Jacob Pattengill center manager for Select Physical Therapy in Cape Girardeau. He said maintaining a specified target heart range for 30 minutes three times a week will help maintain weight and keeping it up 45 minutes four to five times a week will help facilitate weight loss.

"This includes walking and running, but does not exclude other forms of exercise," he said.

Not everyone is convinced that crafting universal health guidelines is worthwhile. Dr. Nortin Hadler, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, sees it as a preoccupation with "the minutiae of lifestyle issues," which neglects to take into account an individual's circumstances, such as poverty or diet.

Southeast Missourian features editor Chris Harris contributed to this report.