We all know that exercise is good for us, but just how much should you be doing?

Why You Should Exercise

The main reason for many of us to exercise is to manage our weight.  Exercise burns calories (or kilojoules) so it is an effective way to maintain a healthy body weight, but exercise is not just for weight management; exercise is great for all of your body.  It helps improve your fitness and also gives your heart and lungs a good workout.  It helps to increase HDL which is the good cholesterol in our bodies.  It also increases the amount of muscle you have, which in turn increases your metabolic rate.  Extra muscle also helps support your body and may help prevent falls and injuries.  Exercise also helps improve bone density which is especially important later in life.  As well as helping your body, exercise is also important for a healthy mind as it helps to reduce stress and releases feel good endorphins.

How Much Exercise?

The Australian Government provides National Physical Activity Guidelines for adults which stipulate that there are four steps for describing how much you should exercise.

Step 1 is to think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience.  Step 2 is to be active every day in as many ways as you can.  This includes walking more (think about walking some of your emails), cycling or running to work instead of driving, parking further away from the store and walking further or doing tasks for yourself, instead of allowing a machine to do it for you.  Step 3 involves putting together at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, if not all days.  There is no rule that states that you have do the entire 30 minutes in one session, you may like to do three sessions of 10 minutes, or two sessions of 15 minutes instead.  Step 4 is to add regular vigorous activity to steps 1 – 3.  They state that steps 1 – 3 are intended to recommend the minimum amount of physical activity you should do to enhance your health, while step 4 is an added bonus to improve your health and fitness further.

Can You Do Too Much?

Even if you incorporate steps 1 – 4 into your lifestyle, it is possible to do too much exercise.  Over training can compromise your immune system, and cause excessive weight loss so although it is important to exercise for your health, you should still take enough rest and eat well between vigorous training sessions.

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