Sedentary living may be responsible for one third of all deaths caused by coronary heart disease, colon cancer and type ll diabetes. Less than 20% of the Australian population are active enough on a regular basis to meet their preventative health needs. We all know that exercise is linked to many positive physical and mental health benefits, but the vast majority of Australians are still not prepared to do any thing about it.
Regular physical activity eg walking can significantly reduce your risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, depression and colon cancer.
How much exercise/activity is required to have a positive effect on our health?
The good news is exercise is accumulative, it doesn’t have to be done in one hit.
You can accumulate it during the day in 5-10 minute blocks. Just by increasing your movement levels at different times during the day you will reap the same benefits as someone who does it all in one stint.
You could do 10 minutes of walking before work and park the car a 10-minute walk from work. At lunchtime you could walk 10 minutes to get your lunch and with the 10-minute walk back to your car after work you have already exceeded the minimal amount. There are many ways or different combinations that we can do to increase our physical activity requirements. Even taking the stairs for a few floors instead of the lift, whilst talking on the phone, pace backwards and forwards or if it’s a mobile or cordless phone walk around.
Set yourself a goal that you will not watch any television, have your dinner or go to bed until the minimal 30 minutes of activity has been achieved each day.