Physical Activity
Increases in daily activity can come from small changes made throughout your day they all add up. You can accumulate your 30 minutes (or more) of physical activity for health throughout the day by combining a few shorter sessions of activity of around 10 to 15 minutes each.
To make a habit out of increasing activity in your day, you can:
- Park further away from your destination and walk the rest of the way
- Walk or cycle instead of using the car for short trips
- Walk rather than rest on escalators or evelators
- Get off the bus/train/tram one or two stops earlier and walk the rest of the way.
- Work in the garden
- Play with children in an active way
- Try a new sport or go back to one you have played before.
- To achieve extra health benefits, or to increase fitness, you will also need to add regular vigorous activity to your routine on three or four days a week, for a minimum of around 30 minutes. Vigorous activity will make you “huff and puff” (e.g. where talking in full sentences between breaths is difficult), and includes activities such as squash, football, aerobics, speed walking, jogging, fast cycling or brisk rowing. This type of activity will also help to maintain a healthy weight.