Keep f it? How DIY and dusting will do

Two-thirds hit activity target without working out

NEARLY two-thirds of adults in Scotland are doing the recommended amount of physical activity – but not through sport.

Domestic labours such as housework, DIY and gardening, along with walking, make up more than half of the suggested 150 minutes a week.

And the good news for people more likely to dig a potato patch than run a marathon is that it still counts.

Many people feel guilty for failing to book a squash game or sign up to a five-a-side team at the weekends. But just in the course of our normal lives, according to Edinburgh University researchers, we are doing enough physical activity to maintain a healthy heart.

For women especially, a quarter of the 150 minutes is spent on ‘domestic’ activity – which takes in DIY and such strenuous forms of housework as scrubbing floors or cleaning windows. It also includes gardening: as anyone who has spent a hard afternoon weeding, digging and sowing seeds can attest.

These activities take up far more time than team and individual sports, which account for 15 per cent of men’s activity and only 4 per cent for women, according to analysis of the Scottish Health Survey.

Lead author Tessa Strain, of Edinburgh University’s Physical Activity Health Research Centre, said: ‘ These findings show that you can meet the recommended amount of physical activity by everyday activities such as walking. This is good news for those without the competitive inclination to step onto a sports field, pitch or court, or for those who feel that gyms are not for them.

‘If you do an afternoon of digging in the garden you will know about it. But the good news in terms of physical activity is that if you find something like that which you enjoy, you are more likely to stick at it.’

The study shows activity levels fall with age. Around 80 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds are sufficiently active, compared with less than half of pensioners. But the average active 65-year- old and the average active 30-year-old both do more than 700 minutes of activity a week.

Researchers found that older men account for a lot of their physical activity through playing golf or bowls. For those in the younger age groups, the gym and running are more likely to form part of their physical activity regime, in keeping with the growing popularity of 5K and 10K races in parks and cities.

But despite Scotland’s array of ski slopes, across the age groups outdoor pursuits including skiing, snowboarding, kayaking and horse-riding make up less than 5 per cent of weekly physical activity for people who do the recommended 150 minutes.

Even without a large amount of team sports and outdoor pursuits, 64 per cent of Scotland’s adult population met the guidelines for physical activity in 2013 – up 2 per cent on the previous year.

Walking made up 25 per cent of physical activity for women who met the guidelines, and just over 20 per cent for men, the study of 5,000 adults revealed.

Miss Strain said: ‘Across the age groups, walking is a consistent type of physical activity. We always call it the perfect physical activity as anyone can do it – you just need a pair of shoes.

‘You don’t have to pay to do it and it is encouraging to see it is consistently popular across the age groups.

‘The message for people is that you can get your entire recommended amount of activity, without having to do any sport, through walking.’

‘You just need a pair of shoes’