How much should I do?
We know being active is important, but how much should we be doing each day?
It is recommended that we do at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. This can be a single 30 minute session, or several shorter episodes of activity such as three 10 minute sessions throughout the day.
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Remember, even one 10 minute session is helpful and better than none!
Each week, you should aim to include exercise that challenges your fitness, balance and strength. It is recommended to include balance and strength activities on at least 2 days each week.​
Fitness exercise
Cardiovascular
This type of physical activity raises your heart rate and helps improve the health of your heart and lungs. It involves continuous, rhythmic movement that uses large muscle groups. You should feel a little out of breath, but be able to talk. If you are too out of breath to talk, you are working too hard.
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Examples include walking, running, swimming and cycling.
Strength exercise
Strength exercises, also known as resistance training or weight training, are exercises that make your muscles work harder than usual. Examples include lifting weights, lunges, squats, push-ups, using resistance bands.
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You should be able to do each exercise 8-12 times (called the number of repetitions), then rest, and repeat each set another 1-2 times. ​If you are doing 12 repetitions easily, it may be time to increase the weight. ​If you haven't done an exercise before, start with no weight, or a light weight, that you can use comfortably.
Balance exercise
These exercises work your balance, so you should feel a little unsteady but still in control. Examples include heel-toe walking, single leg stands and sidestepping. Make sure you stay safe and have a bench, table or wall close by for support.
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If you feel you might overbalance, the exercise is too challenging. Try an easier version. One way you can make standing balance exercises easier is by having your feet further apart.
​​Many exercises work both strength and balance together. All three exercise levels provided on Safe Exercise at Home have strength and balance grouped together.