Vigorous Exercise: More Real-Life Examples

Andy Ness from the University of Bristol in England has pointed me to some more real-world examples of vigorous, as opposed to mild or moderate, exercise: hiking, rowing, dancing, bicycling 10 to 16 mph.

You can find more examples of vigorous exercise at the Healthful Life website, published by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Ness recently co-authored a scientific paper that showed that children who are vigorously active are less likely to be overweight or obese. That prompted many of you to wonder, "What is vigorous exercise?" Or "How can I tell if my child is engaged in vigorous play?

The easy rule of thumb for measuring vigorous exercise, as I wrote in April, is the singing/talking test.

If you can sing while exercising, that's mild exercise. If you can carry on a conversation but cannot sing, that's moderate and if you can only speak a sentence or so at a time, that's vigorous exercise.