It is now a well-established fact that physical activity is good for health. But how much physical activity should you do to prevent disease and delay early death?
We at CERG have recently devised physical activity intelligence (PAI), a single number used to meaningfully quantify your physical activity using the heart rate patters of your body. PAI is for everyone, young and old, fit and unfit. You amount PAI by doing any physical activity. The type of activity you chose to do depends on your own personal preference and could include anything from walking to work, cleaning, climbing stairs, dancing, exercising at high or moderate intensity, to playing with your children or grandchildren.
PAI is NOT an exercise prescription. It does NOT tell you how to exercise in a specific way, but measures the physical activity that you already do and adds it up over a course of a week. As long as you keep your weekly PAI score above 100, you are doing enough to protect yourself from disease and early death. While doing more than 100 PAI may burn additional calories, research shows us that it does not confer better protection from disease and early death.
Stipendiat ved CERG Nina Zisko
PAI is a tool which will tell you if you have done enough physical activity this week to keep healthy longer. It is also a reminder for those who struggle with inactivity to keep physically active. So what’s your PAI?
See how PAI works in this video made by The Wall Street Journal here!
Head of CERG, Ulrik Wisløff and PhD student Nina Zisko
Cardiac Exercise Research Group 