A Day’s Journey

Uganda — August 2022

Let’s get physical! Celebrating one of the most wonderful and well-known facets of health…Physical Activity. I am here in Uganda— the country known for being the most physically active country in the world!

In my own experience, physical activity on the overland road was hard to come by. Early wake ups, long drives, and short daylight hours in winter aren’t exactly the most conducive for physical activity. Not to mention being confined to campsites (we’re out in the wild)! I love running and long walks, so this was particularly tough for me. After about 8 weeks of travel, we finally made it to Uganda. The wonderful part about this country was the increase in physical activity. We went gorilla and chimpanzee tracking, which each involved a moderate amount of hiking. I took an outdoor yoga class at sunset on the Nile river, which was spectacular! One night at camp, we played 4 on 4 volleyball. I also spent a day whitewater rafting on the Nile River headwaters. Talk about full body workouts this week! Even the campsites had some hills and stairs, which made for nice workouts in the mornings or evenings.

Uganda itself is known for being the most physically activity country in the world with a record 94.5% of the adult population meeting global physical activity recommendations (Guwatudde, 2016). This study found that most adults stay active through work and travel -related activities requiring moderate amounts of effort. Ugandans tend to rely on physical modes of transport, such as walking or biking, and work in labor intensive jobs, such as agriculture.

I remember one morning using resistance bands attached to the lando for my workout and some Ugandan men coming over to me to check them out. They all looked to be in great shape, yet had never seen workout bands before. Similarly, while whitewater rafting, the men were in some of the best shape I’ve seen, yet one guy told me that he does not go to the gym- just rafts/kayaks. That isn’t to say that is the case for all the men though. I think this teaches an important lesson that physical activity does not have to mean going to the gym. Physical activity can be incorporated into daily activities, such as the Ugandans using physical transport or working physical jobs or can be enjoyable forms of activities, like the rafting guys. Find a sport or hobby that is fun, or even better involves a team, friends, or the community. Examples would be recreational soccer, hiking with friends, or gardening in the community. The more enjoyable physical activity is, the more likely you are to continue with it.

In general, I like to advise people look to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) physical activity guidelines for adults. This includes 150+ minutes per week doing moderate activity OR 75+ minutes a week doing vigorous activity. Moderate activity means your heart rate (HR) is about 50-70% of its maximum HR. or 3-6 METs. Vigorous activity means your HR is over 70% of it’s max or over 6 METs. These guidelines equate to about 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity 5 days/week or 25 minutes vigorous aerobic activity 3 days/week. In addition, muscle strengthening and flexibility across all muscle groups should be performed at least 2 days per week with a rest day in between. It is important to note that other groups, such as children, geriatric population, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s, etc. have different recommendations, but these are easily found online through the ACSM.

Overall, being physically active is associated with lower risk of most non communicable diseases (NCDs). Globally NCDs are expected to rise in the coming decades, which will further burden global healthcare systems. Let’s do our part and get physical!