What’s the right amount of exercise?

So when it comes to answering this question, “how much exercise should I be doing”, unfortunately, there’s no one answer for everybody. Instead, there are some things you can take into account when finding the right amount (and right type) of exercise for you.

Benefits of exercise:

The World Health Organization states that compared to less active adults, individuals who are more active:

• have lower rates of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, colon and breast cancer, and depression
• are likely to have less risk of a hip or vertebral fracture
• exhibit a higher level of cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness 
• are more likely to achieve weight maintenance, have a healthier body mass and composition

Exercise & injury, a fine balance:

Exercise is incredibly important for maintaining and enhancing our health, however it might not shock you to know that the way we exercise is key to either improving or worsening our odds of injury. Finding the right type of exercise for your body now, can also play a vital role in preventing joint surgery or injury later on in life. With the re-opening of sports and activities following lock-down (COVID-19), there is no better time than right now to reassess your exercise routine.

Mix up your workouts:

In our professional opinion as clinicians, we highly recommend mixing up your workouts – even more so if you’re over 40. Try to include some strength and conditioning, mobility and stretching activity, as well as mixing weight-bearing aerobic exercise (such as running) with non-weight bearing activities (such as swimming and cycling). Doing a variety of physical activities will help you get the best from your body and will help you avoid repetitive strain injuries (RSI) to specific areas of your body.

Remember to rest:

If you’re living an active lifestyle, remember to rest. Giving your body time to recover can do wonders for you in the long term. Our bones, muscles, tendons, collagen and joints need time to react to the impact of exercise, and this becomes even more important as we age. Provided there is adequate recovery, our bodies adapt positively to the stress of exercise.

The World Health Organization’s recommendations for exercise:

As the peak body for global health, the WHO states that:

• Adults aged 18–64 should do at least 150 minutes (30 minutes, 5 days a week) of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week
• Or you should do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week
• Muscle-strengthening activities involving major muscle groups should be done on 2 or more days a week

They also say that aerobic activity should be performed in bouts of at least 10 minutes in duration, and for additional health benefits, you should increase your moderate intensity aerobic physical activity to 240-300 minutes (4-5 hours) per week.