Exercise and activity
Most of us know some form of regular physical activity has a wealth of direct benefits to our health.
Even moderate activity can help improve your overall health by reducing your risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer and high blood pressure, controlling your weight, keeping your bones, muscles and joints supple and healthy and even improving your mood and outlook on life.
The problem lies in getting enough exercise, partly because of other demands on our time and partly because of the ‘push button’ culture we live in that takes the hard work out of so many everyday tasks.
Get active, stay healthy
To begin feeling the benefits, you don’t have to throw yourself into high impact exercise at the gym. There are plenty of ways you can gradually increase your levels of physical activity in your normal day-to-day life:
- Go for a brisk walk or jog.
- Walk to the shops for ‘light’ shopping.
- Use the stairs instead of the lift or escalators.
- Get off the bus a stop early and walk home.
- Walk the kids to school instead of driving.
- Take children and pets for walks in the park.
- Organise a regular 5-a-side football game with friends or work mates.
The only rule is to be as active as possible, as often as you can, whenever you can. As a guide, you should aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity such as walking, swimming, squash, football or even gardening everyday.
If you want to get fit through more strenuous exercise, there are two types: cardiovascular (or aerobic) and resistance (or weight) training.
Cardiovascular training is exercise that works your heart and lungs such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming and cycling.
Resistance training involves lifting free weights or pushing and pulling against weights on specially designed gym equipment.
The secret is to do the sort of exercise and activities you enjoy the most and to change things every so often to stop yourself getting bored. Exercise on your own or with the family or a group of friends; the variety, support and friendly competition will all improve your chance of success!