Movement lowers blood pressure, controls blood sugar, protects against stroke and heart disease, and improves sleep and mood. The target is 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, and for most people here the fastest route to it is walking.
What counts
- Brisk walking, which is the easiest to fit into a day that already exists.
- Farm work, carrying, digging, sweeping, washing by hand.
- Cycling, football, dancing, swimming.
- Climbing stairs instead of taking the lift.
Moderate means you can talk but not sing. If you can sing comfortably, go faster; if you cannot speak a sentence, ease off.
Fitting 150 minutes into a real week
- Thirty minutes, five days a week. Or ten minutes three times a day; it adds up the same.
- Get off the bus or moto one stop early.
- Walk to the market rather than riding.
- Two short walks a day is easier to keep than one long one.
Add strength twice a week
Two sessions a week of something that works the muscles: carrying, digging, press-ups against a wall, squats standing up from a chair, lifting anything heavy with a straight back. This protects the bones and the back, and it matters increasingly after 40.
Sitting is its own problem
Long unbroken sitting harms health even in people who exercise. If your work is seated, stand and move for a few minutes every hour. That is separate from the 150 minutes, not part of it.
Starting safely
- Start where you are. Ten minutes a day is a real beginning.
- Build gradually, roughly ten percent more a week.
- Drink water, and avoid the hottest part of the day.
- If you have heart disease, uncontrolled blood pressure, diabetes on insulin, or are recovering from illness, ask a clinician what to start with. The answer is almost never "nothing".
Stop and get help if
- Chest pain or tightness, or pain spreading to the arm, neck or jaw.
- Severe breathlessness out of proportion to the effort.
- Dizziness, fainting, or an irregular pounding heartbeat.
- Sudden weakness on one side, or trouble speaking.
