Paola Elizarraraz

Brody Jaime

October 24, 2018

English 301

Exercise Vs Physical Activity

People confuse the term physical activity and exercise quite often, individuals believe they

are the same thing. According to Shirl J. Hoffman in her book Introduction to Kinesiology

physical activity is “..movement that is voluntary, intentional and directed towards achieving an

identifiable goal.” Physical activity can be any movement that helps an individual reach a goal as

long as the movement was intentional. While exercise is the “physical activity intended to

improve one’s health or alter one’s body.” Many people think that these words can be used

interchangeable but they actually build on each other.

First physical activity has to be analyzed, and it has to be determined what an identifiable

goal is. Does that mean that getting up from a chair to change the channel or walking to class is

consider physical activity? By definition, it can be argued that yes, because both task fall under

the concept of physical activity. When getting up from the chair the goal is to change the

channel, and by the same means the goal of walking to class is not to be late or to learn materials

that are going to be covered in class that particular day, but can those two activities be seen as

exercise? If an individual was instructed by their doctor to get up and walk for a short period of

time in order to strengthen their ligaments which they had replaced in a knee surgery, and that

individual decided to not use the controller in order to maximize their movement while

performing a leisure activity, would this be consider as exercise? The individual who chose to

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walk to class might take the long way to class in order to increase their steps taken for the day in

order to stay on track of their daily steps for the week.

By definition, both activities are considered exercise because they have moved past being

classified as simple physical activity in order to accomplish a common goal, and have now

moved into activities being performed in order to improve one’s health. Exercise might fall

under the bubble of physical activity, but it stretches out further to

describe how an individual can turn physical activity into the act

of changing one’s body or performing that physical activity for

one’s personal benefit. Thus exercise is a form of physical activity

that leads an individual to give a purpose or reason to the physical

activity being performed. If the definition of the words exercise and physical activity were to

change does that mean that how they are defined changes as well?

These definitions are from a textbook and are different than those given in the Merriam-

Webster Dictionary. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, physical activity is defined

as “good health and strength achieved through exercise” while exercise is defined as “to use

repeatedly in order to strengthen or develop.” These definition also help understand both terms

such as how the textbook definition helps give a new understanding to how physical activity and

exercise can be used. This time an individual must understand the word exercise to understand

physical activity. In this definition exercise is left as a broader term to let an individual interpret

what the dictionary refers to when something is used repeatedly to strength. This still fits into the

definition of how exercise and physical activity are intended to improves one’s health or alter

one’s body because improve can be substituted for strengthen or development. An individual can

repeatedly perform an activity in order to strengthen one’s health. Applying the definition giving

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by Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the textbook definition, physical activity can be defined as

voluntary movement that helps an individual achieve good

health through exercise. The dictionary definition uses different

words, but ultimately can be joined together with the textbook

definition to help define physical activity and exercise more

concretely. A more concrete understanding of these words can

be given by looking at their historical background.

According to Online Etymology Dictionary, the word exercise comes from the Latin word

exercitium which means to keep busy. While the word physical activity comes from the Latin

word physicalis and was first used to mean “having to do with bodily attributes or activities” in

the 1720’s. The background of these words can stretch all the way back to the pre historic age

where there were hunters and gathers. Physical activity and exercise has been part of history

even before it was first used to describe activities such as physical education. Exercise can be

seen done by early humankind when those individuals had to learn how to run, walk, jump and

lift in order to survive the harsh environment they lived in. These activities progressed which

allowed individual to perform exercise for agricultural and trade instead of hunting and

gathering.

These words are easily defined through background information and formal definition.

Using different dictionaries help give individuals a broader understanding of the terms and more

insight on how the terms are used. Physical activity and exercise must be used together to

explain their definition because both terms overlap and help understand the each other’s

definitions. In the book Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance both terms are

defined in a way that related the terms to the topic according to the text. Physical activity is

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stated being “bodily movement using skeletal muscles that require expenditure of energy,” and

exercise is defined as ‘physical activity that is planned, structured and involves repetitive bodily

movement” still falling under the definition giving by the textbook Introduction to Kinesiology.

All three definitions given by both textbooks and the dictionary definition define physical

activity and exercise differently, but ultimately both terms still mean to perform an activity with

a purpose. Depending on what the purpose is the term used changes, which is why an individual

might use exercise and physical activity interchangeably.

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 Work cited

Hoffman, S. J., & Knudson, D. V. (2018). Introduction to kinesiology. Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics.

Introduction to Physical Fitness and Wellness - ppt download. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://slideplayer.com/slide/7035900//

Morrow, J. R., Mood, D., Disch, J. G., & Kang, M. (2016). Measurement and evaluation in
human performance. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Nutrition for Physical Activity & Sport - ppt video online download. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://slideplayer.com/slide/6831110/

Online Etymology Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/

Wyld, H. C. (1963). Webster dictionary. U.S.A.: J.J. Little and Dues.

In this essay I used examples of formal definition because I placed both terms as sub terms of

each other meaning that you cannot understand one term without understanding the other. I also

used operational definition because how these terms are defined depends on the conditions that

takes place. Depending on the condition of the situation an individual might use exercise if their

activity is more structured and they want to alter their health with their activity. While the term

physical activity is used when an individual is creating motion intentionally to accomplish a task.

Operational definition is the best way to define these term in order to get a better understanding

of how they are different.