Exercise prescription for the overweight and the obese: how to quantify and yet keep it simple.

An activity point system (APS) is presented that assists healthcare providers and health professionals with a way to prescribe exercise in a semiquantitative manner and to motivate their patients to begin an exercise programme. Activity points are specific to one's body weight, body mass index and activity intensity for 10-minute bouts of activity performed. With a goal of accumulating 100-300 activity points per week, the APS provides a simple yet quantitatively accurate way to prescribe exercise for overweight and obese adults.