To not believe 57% do recommended exercise

[brasty]

According to the census, 57% of people have self reported that they do the recommended amount of exercise of 2.5 hours a week. I simply don't believe this. I suspect the figure is much lower.
AIBU to think this is higher than in reality, because it is based on self reporting?

Because people are fat? I think it's perfectly possible to self report accurately the amount of exercise you do and still gain weight.

Most "school mums" near me would do that simply walking kids to and from school each day. then there's those that play sport/go to the gym so it looks kind of plausible.

Anything based on self reporting could be wrong though!

It's easy to do if you haven't got a car.

I was obese but used to walk miles, pushing my Mum in her Wheelchair, went camping/walking. I overate and drank, exercise wasn't an issue.

I live in an poor area where most people are overweight/obese, people don't have cars, or spare mine for bus fare. Walking up to our Local Farm Foods/Lidl/Aldi/Tesco would be enough to fulfill the criteria.

"Spare money"

Self-reporting is notoriously unreliable- great freakonomics podcast by the guy that wrote the book where he analysed search results and they correlated way better with reality than any survey/poll. Even when the survey is anonymous, people still lie, especially about eating, drinking, exercise and sex apparently.

It's 2.5 hours of 'moderate aerobic activity', isn't it? So average walking that doesn't raise your heart rate wouldn't count.

The statistics count housework and gardening as exercise. The number doing what most people think of as actual exercise will be much lower.

I think that's right 53rd, ppl count things that don't really count as their heart rate is not up enough. My DM is always on about how active she is but most of it is just gentle strolling/cycling/gardening etc. so not sure how much would count according to those guidelines.

Brisk walking would count, though. And running around in park with offspring.

I do brisk 15 min walk up steep hill every morning just to get to work, and brisk walk down every evening: that's my amount done without actually ever doing anything "exercisy".

Whether 2.5 hours is enough for me is a different matter: I would say quite confidently that it isn't and that to maintain good fitness I would need to do an awful lot more. But I wouldn't be lying if self-reporting.

2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week is very easily achieved. It's not even a 30min brisk walk everyday. Most people would do at least that if they are normally active.

Scrubbing an oven, digging or carrying a few bags of groceries home would count, wouldn't it? Maybe not a leisurely stroll, but walking-as-transport in all weathers carrying things would.

I'm fat. This week I have walked about 5 miles (took about 1.5 hours) and been to the gym and done 40 minutes of cardio.

I'm not going to the gym today as I'm decorating but will be there tomorrow and Sunday, so that'll be another hour or so of cardio, plus the walking back too, at a brisk pace. So yes, I do the recommended amount of exercise.

Depends what you count as exercise.

Routinely walking kids to school would add up to 2.5 hrs a week if it was just an 8 minute walk to school.

Someone commuting to work on public transport would only need a 15 minute walk each way to add up to 2.5 hrs walking a week.

If people are told to count gardening and housework - 30 mins housework a day, or a couple of hours at the weekend maintaining the garden, and you're there.

So taking the above into account, 57% doing 2.5 hours exercise is plausible.

Whether that's enough exercise to keep someone physically fit, or enough exercise to stop someone gaining weight, is a different question altogether.

I do more exercise than a lot of people i know and I don't do 2.5 hrs moderate a week.

I don't count school runs (they are not done briskly haha), nor gardening, housework etc. Only things that actually get me out of breath and sweaty.

London commuter here - 30mins of very brisk walking per day as part of my commute. Then a moderate paced 1 hour walk at lunch, followed by another 1 hr walk with DH when I return. Adds up to 10-15k steps per day (I don't count cleaning/housework/leisurely strolls or pottering about) which is about right for daily activity. Gym is on top of this.

I'm a nanny, the most common thing I hear when out with the wee one is 'Goodness, he's fast isn't he!'.
My smart watch reads my heart rate and assesses my movement with an aim of 60 active minutes a day, my monthly average is over 2 hours a day. That doesn't stop me technically being obese.

Housework depends on how you do it. My (85yo) mother is still climbing up on chairs and moving furniture to scrub behind it: it's the kind of movement pattern other people might do in the gym. Unsurprisingly she is rather fit for her age. I otoh am a sloppy housewife and would be unwise to rely on housework for my exercise.

I used to work with someone that claimed to walk half an hour every day. She walked so slowly she must have covered about half a mile in the that time. Totally ineffective.

NHS exercise guidelines, per week:

1. 150 mins cycling/fast walking + 2 sessions of strength exercise that work all muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

-or-

1. 75 mins vigorous activity + 2 sessions of strength exercise that work all muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

-or-

1. A mix of moderate and vigorous to 150 mins + 2 sessions of strength exercise that work all muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)

I guess many might reach cardio targets but I doubt 57% of the population do the strength part.

I average around 18 to 25k steps a day. This includes being on my feet teaching all day then exercising in the evening ( I run between 25 and 35km a week).

If you looked at me you'd probably assume I don't exercise as much as I do. I'm a little overweight and have no thyroid gland, so without this amount of exercise I would be massive.

My favourite thing is when I'm running a 10km or half marathon and I and up passing the skinny super fit looking ones who leapt off at the start giving this sturdy 47 year old pitying looks. Fitness isnt always about looking fit.

I think 57% of people may be active for the 2.5 hours per week rather than doing what I would consider as exercise e.g. Jogging, gym session etc

I do manage - I do 4/5 hours intense exercise a week - like the PP I am a slightly chunky 47 year old - but I am fit

I think those reporting they do probably are including walking, house work etc - but that is still exercise - it's not sitting down doing nowt

I definitely do 2.5 hours- 1 spin class, 1hr gym session of weights/cardio/body pump and 2x hr-long intensive yoga sessions a week, plus walking about 40 mins a day. I still feel fat though and like I am too sedentary. So, you can't just assume that overweight people do no exercise. I have a problem with binge-eating, which I am trying to control. This past week has been bad, but have decided today is a new start.

Climbing stairs with a heavyish bag, like most commuters with a laptop do, would definitely meet the full body strength test, as would doing the same with a child (it got confirmed at my strength assessment). So my guess is most people do the strength part too.

Holding a weight (of any kind) while climbing stairs is going to work your lags and arse. Not doing much for your chest, core, back, shoulders etc, in the sense of truly working these muscles in their push/pull functions.

The strength guidelines say the weights have to be heavy enough that you need to rest before you can continue. My laptop isn't that heavy!