Daily Movement & Exercise — Quick Reference
WHO minimum weekly guidelines
|---|---|
| Moderate aerobic (brisk walk, cycling) | 150 min/week |
|---|
| Vigorous aerobic (running, HIIT) | 75 min/week |
| Strength training | 2 sessions (all major muscle groups) |
Heart rate zones (rough estimate: 220 − age = max HR)
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 50-70% | Easy, full conversation possible |
|---|
| 3-4 | 70-85% | Labored breathing, sustainable |
| 5 | 85%+ | Near-maximal, brief only (HIIT) |
Desk worker habits
20-20-20-2 Rule:
Every 20 min: look 20 feet away for 20 sec (eye strain)
Every 2 hours: stand and move for 2 min (circulation)
Morning: 5-min stretch (hip flexors, spinal mobility)
Lunch: 15-min walk outside
Evening: 30 min of any enjoyed exercise
20-minute home workout (no equipment)
Warm-up (3 min): jumping jacks, arm circles
Circuit (14 min, 2 rounds):
Push-ups: 15 reps
Bodyweight squats: 20 reps
Plank: 30 sec
Glute bridges: 15 reps
Cooldown (3 min): static stretches, 30 sec each
Progressive overload levers (in typical order of use)
1. Add weight/resistance
2. Add reps at same weight
3. Add sets
4. Improve range of motion / form quality
5. Reduce rest time between sets
Weekly structure — balanced starting point
2-3 strength sessions/week (all major muscle groups across the week)
2-3 cardio sessions/week (mostly zone 2 + occasional higher intensity)
Daily mobility work (5-10 min) — frequency matters more than duration
Injury-risk signal
Acute:chronic workload ratio > ~1.5 (recent week vs. 4-week average)
→ elevated injury risk, even if absolute volume isn't unusually high
General rule of thumb: increase volume ≤ ~10%/week
Signs you need to move more
[ ] Afternoon energy crashes (2-4pm)
[ ] Back or hip pain after sitting
[ ] Difficulty concentrating after 1 hour desk work
[ ] Resting heart rate above 75 bpm
[ ] Waking tired despite 7-8 hours sleep
Habit-building principle
Start smaller than feels necessary — a 10-min, 3x/week commitment
that survives a bad day beats an ambitious routine that only
works on ideal days. Scale up only once consistency is established.
