Hot off the Press: Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines

So after much anticipation the new Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines were officially released yesterday by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology.

You can check them out here.

Their release has sparked a lot of discussion. So I thought I would share some of it with you.

So what is good about the new guidelines:

1. They are based on science and research. The previous guidelines were only based on expert opinion.
2. They are less confusing than the previous guidelines. The old guidelines could be a bit tricky to understand fully. With the new guidelines the message is quite clear: Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate -vigorous physical activity each week (for adults).
3. They are more realistic and achievable. The 150 minutes can be accumulated in at least 10 minute bouts (or more). Ten minutes littered throughout the day may seem more achievable to those who struggle to be active.
4. They are more inclusive with regards to different ages. The old guidelines were missing ages.
5. The new guidelines make is easier to measure physical activity levels. This is a good thing if you want to track the physical activity levels in your community!!!

Moving away from the good news, I want to chat a little about one aspect that has raised some questions and concern: What happened to flexibility and stretching?

Currently the literature on flexibility and stretching is very thin. Since the new guidelines are based on science and research, stretching recommendations needed to be left out.

Only in the older adult guidelines is there still a hint of the importance of flexibility. The new guidelines recommend that "Those with poor mobility should perform physical activities to enhance balance to prevent falls." So, some stretching exercises would fit under this recommendation.

Part of me understands completely why stretching was left out of the new guidelines. Recently I had to write a short article on stretching. Finding research and information that provided clear definitive answers on flexibility and stretching was very hard. In most cases I came up empty.

But on the other hand, I have seen what flexibility can do with the people I work directly with. It helped increase the mobility of a woman's arthritic knee. It helped improve the stride length of a runner, it helped a new mom bend down so she can pick up her baby. Stretching helped all these people in their own individual way.

And maybe that is the issue with doing research on stretching and flexibility. The benefits of stretching is so individually based (age, gender, injury, joint health, activity level, personal goals) that perhaps it is too hard to measure.

So... what does this mean to you? At the end of the day you know your participants, you know their goal's and their abilities. If stretching is going to help them then what is the harm of still encouraging them to do it?