The FITT Method for Physical Activity

Host:  Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky

Guest: Natalie Jones, Extension Program Coordinator for Physical Activity

Episode 8

0:00  Welcome to Talking FACS. What you need to know about family, food, finance and fitness. Hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension program, our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families and communities to improve quality of life.

0:20  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Hello and welcome back to Talking FACS. This is your host, Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family Consumer Sciences Extension. Today, I'm pleased to have joining me as our guest, Natalie Jones, our physical activity coordinator for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension. Thanks for joining us today, Natalie.

0:36  Natalie Jones: Thanks for having me.

0:37  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, I'm excited that you are going to share with us today a topic; The FITT Method for Physical Activity. And this is not something that I am personally familiar with, so I'm really excited to learn something new today.

0:49  Natalie Jones: Yeah. So, for most people, the hardest part of exercising is just getting started.

0:52  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I will agree.

0:53  Natalie Jones: Yes

0:54  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: It is.

0:55  Natalie Jones: Hectic schedules, the lack of time, different things contribute to those excuses or reasons for not being able to get physical activity in. But also, many people just lack that basic knowledge of what physical activity includes. And so, I think that that prevents people from getting started. So, the FITT method is an easy way to understand physical activity, when most people can feel overwhelmed at the beginning of a new fitness routine. I think this is especially true now when I feel like you can turn on your TV or Instagram, Facebook, anything and you get bombarded with different diet research or hot topics with physical activity on how, you know, “Do this for five minutes and you're going to look like a Hollywood star”.

1:38  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Exactly.

1:41  Natalie Jones: That's not always the case.

1:42  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Really?

1:43  Natalie Jones: Yeah. So, this misinformation can be hard for people to decipher about physical activity and what to include. But truthfully, it's not difficult to determine what a workout can include to have those benefits that physical activity gives.

1:58  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, let's start at the very beginning for a novice. How do you get started with physical activity?

2:03  Natalie Jones: So, an easy way to get started is utilizing this FITT method and the acronym stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. So, how much exercise depends on you and your unique situation. It doesn't have to be strenuous to gain health benefits. Again, any physical activity is better than none. And so, it's always a good way to remember how to be physically active if you follow the FITT method.

2:28  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: And so, exactly how does the fit method work?

2:31  Natalie Jones: FITT method is one way to remember again those general guidelines for what should be included in a fitness plan. And again, I just want to throw this out there that it's always important to remember that everyone's fitness goal is different based on who you are, your age, sex, current fitness level and again your available resources. So, you should always talk to your doctor before starting, if you have any health concerns or anything that you're worried about. And so, each letter and the word FITT represents that important factor.

So, frequency, the first one, is just doing physical activity every day. So, being active every day or almost every day is key and just moving more. So, for physical activity to be beneficial, you have to do it a few days a week. And the CDC recommends for adults to be active at least five days a week.

3:21  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, what actually qualifies as physical activity?

3:24  Natalie Jones: So, I would qualify anything as physical activity that's movement; whether it's walking to work or biking to work, walking around the mall, anything like that is physical activity. Exercise is something that I would gain as people who go to the gym or try to go to a fitness class, because you're trying to gain some type of specific takeaway, whereas physical activity and movement can include anything.

3:51  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Okay. So, it's really just movement.

3:52  Natalie Jones: Right.

3:53  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: And I think that that seems much easier to obtain than maybe other exercise-type goals as you mentioned.

3:58  Natalie Jones: Exactly. And you can use this FITT method for physical activity, movement as well as exercise. It's really up to you and whatever fitness level that you're at; at the time. And so, that's a great leeway into intensity, because you want to choose an activity that fits your level. And again, this changes for everyone, so you can have moderate intensity to vigorous activities as well. And if you can, you want to try to mix those up, so that way that you are getting both.

So, a vigorous activity would be something where you're breathing hard and sweating and a moderate or even low activity is still good for you, but you can really hold that conversation. Again, you want to start slowly and gradually, if you are new to physical activity or for exercise, you want to slowly increase that intensity.

And so, a good rule of thumb is a person doing moderate intensity or aerobic exercise could talk but couldn't sing during the activity and a person doing a vigorous intensity exercise cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

5:01  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, what would be good examples of say, a low intensity activity?

5:06  Natalie Jones: So, that could just be walking, maybe a slow bike ride or stretching.

5:11  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: And if I was going to move that up to moderate activity, what would be examples of that?

5:16  Natalie Jones: So, you go to maybe a faster walk or little faster bike ride and then dancing or weightlifting can also be considered a light to moderate activity.

5:26  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: And then examples of the most vigorous types of activity?

5:30  Natalie Jones: So, for some people that could be even faster walking. For example, my mom is the best speed walker I've ever seen in my life. And for me, that's I'm at a jogging pace to keep up with her speed walking. So, it varies for different people. And again, fast bike riding or maybe a cycling class, jogging or running, aerobics, competitive sports; basketball, football, soccer or anything like that.

And again, those moderate to vigorous activity levels vary for everyone. And so, you just want to remember for intensity, that you choose an activity that maybe includes both of those for your fitness level.

6:07  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: And I think that that's a great point. Although we can provide examples of the different levels of intensity, that it's really who we are as a person about how much intensity we are getting out of the different activities.

6:18  Natalie Jones: Exactly.

6:20  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, other components of the FITT method include?

6:23  Natalie Jones: Time. So, that's that duration. So, you want to plan on a total of 30 minutes of activity each day. That's what the CDC recommends. However, the more the merrier.

And again, you can split this up to either one time altogether or added together over several short little terms of breaking it up to 5, 10, 15-minute blocks of activity. And for most people, breaking up physical activity into those smaller blocks is a great way to get started and to fit physical activity or movement into their busy schedule.

And then the last T in the fit method is Type. So, this is what type of exercise or physical activity are you going to be doing. Is it something that is cardiovascular or resistance training or is it both? Is it a team sport, individual, a recreation, family activities, walking, bicycling, maybe use that for transportation, anything like that. But the most important thing to focus on for picking that type is that it's something fun that you truly enjoy doing.

7:25  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I would agree that that is key to being successful; especially in meeting long-term physical activity goals.

7:31  Natalie Jones: Yes.

7:32  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, what or how would someone that is new to physical activity apply the FITT method?

7:37  Natalie Jones: So, for a beginner, I think choosing the type of exercise may be the best place to start in mapping out a routine. After all, if you are able to truly enjoy the type of physical activity that you're going to be doing, then you'll probably do it more often, which will fall in line with the frequency, intensity and time. So, again this is something different for everyone; whether it's walking, biking or swimming.

The next thing I think I would pick after the type of activity is Frequency. So, you want to consider how much time each week you truly devote to that physical activity. And again, be realistic about that.

Again, the CDC recommends that an adult works out or gets physical activity five times a week for 30 minutes a day. So, that could be a good place to start or if you truly are a beginner and this is your first kick into physical activity, then maybe just two days a week or one day a week is the best bet for you.

I think with everyone in today's world being typically busy, after you pick that type and frequency, really thinking about the time and appropriate determining of schedules is the next step.

8:48  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I could see that as being key.

8:50  Natalie Jones: Yes. So, once you figure out the best time and appropriate point for you, then intensity level could be something that you determine throughout the process. Maybe you start where at a lower intensity level first and then work your way up to a higher intensity level.

9:06  Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Great. So, as you're as you're talking, I'm trying to visualize and I could see that maybe a lot of folks, because I'm sometimes guilty of trying to just figure everything out in my head and I'm guessing that this is probably something that individuals would want to write down on paper. That way, that they can also try to make certain that they're meeting all of the components.

So, if someone was going to write down an example of the FITT method, how would that read or what would that look like?

9:34  Natalie Jones: Yeah. So, when making a fitness plan, I think it's great to use this FITT model as well as writing it down and posting it somewhere.

So, a quick example would be you would walk, if you're on a treadmill for instance, we would use this. Walk (that's your type of physical activity) at a four miles per hour (that's your intensity) for 45 minutes (that's your time) four times per week (that's your frequency).

So, if you're able to hit all of those FITT methods into your physical activity plan, then you're going to be successful.

10:08            Dr. Jennifer Hunter: As you explain it, you make it sound so simple. And it's really motivating to make me feel like I need to get out there and do this and try and incorporate the FITT method into my physical activity plan as well.

10:21            Natalie Jones: It is. It's pretty easy to write down. Sometimes the work is a little harder.

10:26            Dr. Jennifer Hunter: But it's a great first step and to put you in the right direction.

10:27            Natalie Jones: Yes. And it definitely makes physical activity seem possible.

10:31            Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Excellent. Thanks so much for joining us today Natalie.

10:34            Natalie Jones: Thank you.

10:36            Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition, health, resource management, family development and civic engagement. If you enjoyed today's podcast, have a question or a show topic idea, leave a like and comment on Facebook at UKFCSEXT. Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu or contact your local extension agent for Family and Consumer Sciences. We build strong families. It starts with us.