Get moving!
Get moving!
Lately I have had a few patients ask me what I recommend as the ideal amount of exercise each week. The answer I give is according to Australia’s Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines (The Department of Health, 2014).
- Children between the ages of 5-12, and adolescents between the ages of 13-17 should accumulate 60 minutes of moderate to high intensity physical activity each day.
- Adults (ages 18-64) should accumulate 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity each week or 75-150 minutes of high intensity physical activity each week
For a lot of people, finding up to 60 minutes each day to exercise can be a challenge. I thought that I would provide some examples of the best ways to include exercise for the time challenged person.
- Commute – walk, run, ride a bike, park a distance away from work and walk the rest of the way.
- Use your lunch break – get out for a short walk in your lunch break, hit the gym, do some yoga, but make sure you have somewhere to shower if you break a sweat 😉
- Incidental exercise – this is exercise which occurs as part of day-to-day life, and is unplanned. An example of this is taking the stairs instead of the lift.
- Exercise in the morning – People tend to be busy in the evenings with other commitments, so getting your workout done in the morning gets it out of the way early, leaving you with a feeling as though you have accomplished a task when you get to work.
- Join a sports team – the social team environment is a great way for keeping you motivated to exercise and accountable for turning up to training sessions and matches.
Get stuck into it and of course, get moving!
