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Evidence suggests that we need to exercise and manage our weight in order to reduce the risk of disease.
This exercise to weight relationship is a direct balance between the energy we consume as food and drink and the energy we burn through exercising and daily activities. For many of us, there needs to be some change to what’s coming in as well as what’s going out in order to get the best results.
Sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start and this is where the National Physical Activity Guidelines and National Weight Management Guidelines can help. Professor Garry Egger, co-author of the guidelines, says there are some other things you can do to improve your fitness, achieve a healthy weight, and reduce disease risk long into old age.
For long-term good health you must live a moderately active lifestyle and also engage in exercise to improve your fitness. You can start by simply moving more – track the number of steps you take and aim to do a few hundred more each day, walk instead of driving and take the stairs instead of the lift.
After a week or two you should begin to increase your physical activity to 20 to 30 minutes of moderate physical activity – for example, walking, slow jogging or swimming – two to three days a week. It could also help in these initial stages to break the physical activity up into two, or even three, 10-minute sessions per day, especially if you are time-poor.
The next stage involves 30 minutes of moderate activity most days (or clocking up 10,000 steps a day on your pedometer), with one 60-minute session each week to develop your endurance. This equates to 150-180 minutes of exercise a week.
The final stage may include replacing the 30-minute sessions with some more vigorous exercise, such as running, that will target your fitness. Yoga, pilates, swimming and walking are all great exercises for those who want something less stressful on their joints.
At the end of the day it’s important for you to go at your own pace and to work with a health professional or a doctor if you have any health concerns. The best results are achieved when fitting these activities in with your daily routine, rather than making activity a special chore. The most important thing is that we move. How, when, why and how often depends on you.
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