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Physical activity is any bodily movement that requires you to expend energy.

This includes structured exercise such as:

• Swimming
• Cycling
• Walking
• Aerobics

It also includes activities that you can include in daily lives such as:

• Gardening
• Housework
• Walking the dog

How Much and How often?

The Government recommendations are as follows:

"Adults should try to build up gradually to take 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on 5 or more days of the week."

Moderate means at a level intense enough to raise your heart rate, making you feel slightly out of breath. You should still be able to hold a conversation.

Why Bother?

Physical activity has many benefits. These include:

• Helps you to feel good in mind and body
• It can be great fun, and is a good way of making friends
• It gives you something to look forward to in your leisure time
• Helps you to feel more energetic
• Helps you to relax
• Helps you to stay supple and keep more mobile as you age
• Helps to strengthen your muscles, joints and bones
• Improves the staying power of your muscles
• Helps the heart to work more efficiently, improves circulation and helps protect against heart disease
• Helps almost everything in your body work better
• It needn't cost anything
• The more you do, the easier it gets!

Tips when choosing activities

Try to choose activities:

• Which you enjoy
• Which you can do regularly
• Which you can easily fit into your everyday routine
• Which you can do near home
• Which don't depend on the weather or seasons
• Which make you feel good

Try to choose active ways of doing everyday tasks. You don't have to choose just one thing. Try lots of activities and alternate.

Whatever you choose to do, start slowly and build up gradually.