Fitness & exercise  General exercise  How much exercise?

How much exercise should I do?

We all know that exercise is good for us. It helps us look and feel good, control weight, keeps our bones, muscles & joints strong and keeps life's nasties such as heart disease, osteoporosis and obesity at bay.

But how much should we do?

The answer is, somewhat surprisingly, 30 MINUTES, 5 DAYS PER WEEK!

The very latest recommendations from the Chief Medical Officer are that we should try to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes, 5 days per week. This has recently been increased - a result of continually rising obesity.

So what next? Don't panic!

This is easy for those of us who are regular exercisers anyway… we are all smugly pleased with ourselves. But if you currently do very littlethen please don't panic! The good news is that the 30 minutes does NOT have to be done all in one go. Its not such a difficult thing… you can do your exercise in 5 minute slots if you want. Current research tells us that it all counts. I often recommend bite size chunks to clients who are short of time, or whose fitness level is low

Starting to add more exercise to your day in small chunks…. Some ideas….

• Park further away from the door so you have to walk.
• Carry your shopping, rather than pushing it (unless you have a big shop to do!)
• Use stairs rather than the lift
• Stand up and pace the floor when you're on the phone
• If you have a seated job, stand up where possible
• Use a regular cue… perhaps stand/sit x 5 every time you get an email!
• Walk more briskly wherever you go
• In the car, try to draw in your abdominal

Courtesy of Noelle Watson, Professional Personal Trainer