Sport and physical activity: what are the differences?
Did you know that there are several differences between sport and physical activity? The point today precisely with Doctor Gérard Bersand, specialized in functional medicine and anti-aging medicine.
Sport VS physical activity
Sport will create inflammation and hyper-hydration unlike physical activity for example. It is also a more intensive practice, whereas in physical activity the intensity does not matter, it is the duration that is important. Obviously, you will be more out of breath and will tend to sweat profusely after an intensive sports session, this is not the case for physical activity. Difference to note also concerning the cardiac activity. In the first case, it will go up to your maximum theoretical frequency. In the second, the hens remain below 90 or 100 and there will be no need for a recovery phase.
Of course, exercise is good for your health. Here, Doctor Gérard Bersand takes the prism of anti-aging!
How to measure the intensity of a physical activity?
To measure the intensity, there is what is called the metabolic equivalent (MET). It is in fact your oxygen consumption according to your activity. If you’re sitting on your couch watching TV, you’re going to have baseline oxygen consumption that’s equivalent. When we distinguish sport and physical activity, we try not to exceed six METs. For example: mowing the lawn is equivalent to 5.5 MET, dancing, gardening or tinkering is 3.5 MET.
What we lack, unfortunately, is time. In fact, we tried to practice one hour of physical activity per day, even every other day!