What is Exercise?
Exercise refers to any organized, repetitive activity that elevates your body’s intensity level compared to your typical daily movements. Engaging in activities like team sports, jogging, running, or dancing increases your heart rate and uses your muscles, which in turn enhances and maintains your physical fitness.
Why is Exercise Important?
While maintaining daily physical activity is crucial, incorporating exercise into your routine can provide even more significant benefits. Exercise helps regulate body composition, strengthens bones, keeps our muscles flexible, and supports cardiovascular and respiratory fitness.
As we age, regular exercise can help prevent or reduce the risk of various diseases, lower the likelihood of falls, enhance mobility, and enable us to perform daily tasks more comfortably. It also improves mental health, fosters social connections, and enhances cognitive function across all age groups.
Explore our complete range of health benefit guides, including 10 benefits of walking and how to work out at home.
What Are the Different Types of Exercise and Their Benefits?
There are four primary types of exercise. While we often focus on one type, combining all four can alleviate boredom, lower injury risk, and enhance overall stamina, strength, and flexibility.
Endurance
Often referred to as ‘aerobic’ exercise, this type improves our stamina and makes our heart and lungs more efficient, benefiting circulation overall. It typically involves large muscle groups, with examples including brisk walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, tennis, and cycling.
Strength
Also known as ‘resistance’ training, this form helps maintain and build muscle strength, simplifying daily tasks such as climbing stairs or carrying heavy items. Strength training enhances balance and improves body composition. To be effective, focus on all major muscle groups at least twice a week using body weight, dumbbells, or resistance bands. Examples include carrying heavy shopping, grip exercises, bicep curls, squats, sit-ups, and push-ups.
Balance
Often neglected, balance maintenance is vital as we age. Lower body strength exercises like squats, as well as activities such as tai chi and yoga, or simple practices like standing on one foot, can be beneficial.
Stretching and Flexibility
As we age, muscles can shorten and tighten, leading to strains and reduced functionality. Stretching helps maintain muscle length, improves range of motion, and lowers injury risk. Enhancing flexibility makes everyday tasks, such as tying shoelaces or reaching high shelves, easier. Activities like yoga or Pilates can aid in developing flexibility.
How Much Exercise Should I Do Each Day?
The UK Government advises adults to aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week, ideally spread across daily sessions of 20-30 minutes. This can encompass various activities, including exercise.
Your chosen activities can vary in intensity. Moderate-intensity activities, like brisk walking or cycling, could fulfill the 150-minute guideline, or you might opt for 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activities, such as running or shorter bursts of sprinting or stair climbing.
Additionally, the guidelines recommend engaging in strengthening activities at least two days a week, such as resistance training or lifting heavy objects. These help build and maintain strength in major muscle groups and support bone health.
Refer to the guidelines that are specific to your age group.
How Do I Know What Intensity of Exercise I Am Doing?
While exercising, try to talk. If you’re breathing heavily but can still hold a conversation, you’re likely engaging in moderate-intensity exercise. If you can only manage a few words before needing to take a breath, you’re likely at a vigorous intensity.
What Are the Easiest Ways to Incorporate More Exercise Into My Day?
Making exercise a regular part of your life is essential for good health. Choose a sport or activity you enjoy, mark it on your calendar, and find a workout partner for added accountability. Here are some practical ways to incorporate more exercise into your day:
1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator
2. Walk to work or get off the bus a stop earlier
3. Use a basket instead of a trolley for shopping
4. Add a brisk walk or jog during your lunch break
5. Join a dance class or play your favorite music and dance in your kitchen
6. Connect with a local walking group
7. Try a new sport, like golf, badminton, or tennis
8. Include a yoga or Pilates class in your weekly routine
9. Join a team for sports like 5-a-side football, basketball, or hockey
10. Subscribe to an online fitness platform or explore workout videos
A Word About…
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) refers to the energy expended when you’re not sleeping, eating, or doing structured exercise. This encompasses everyday physical activities, like walking to work, housework, gardening, and even fidgeting. These actions can contribute to calorie expenditure, so while they might not be formal exercise, they should not be underestimated, as their cumulative effect can be significant.
Is Exercise Safe for Everyone?
If you’re new to exercise, it’s advisable to consult your GP or healthcare provider to ensure your chosen activities are appropriate, particularly if you have health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, existing injuries, or are pregnant.
When starting an exercise routine, begin slowly and allow time for warming up and cooling down with gentle walks or stretching. Aim for a pace that you can maintain without becoming overly fatigued. As you build endurance and strength, gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts.
If you are new to exercise, consult your GP to confirm that your selected activity is safe for you.
Found This Useful? Check Out…
Try our 25-minute fitness classes on Fiit
How to Exercise for Free
The Best Fitness Trackers to Buy
The Benefits of Exercise on Mental Health
Browse All Our Health and Fitness Content
All health content on bbcgoodfood.com is provided for general information only and should not be regarded as a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have any health concerns, please consult your local healthcare provider. For more information, see our website’s terms and conditions.
