How Much Exercise Is Enough for a Healthier You

Physical activity is a perfect way to be fitter, as well as feel and look more confident. Find out about the physical activity guidelines and get active for a healthier life.

Do you wish to have a stronger body and maintain a healthy weight? Start moving! It is the answer to a more energetic and healthier you.

Everyone—from young kids to older adults—can be physically active. All it takes is finding some activities that you enjoy and making them part of your daily routine so that you can clock in enough exercise per week. Doing a little physical activity every day will improve your quality of life.

Why Should I Get Active?

Dumbbells are helpful for strength-training exercises

When you get active, your overall health and wellbeing can improve for you to enjoy a better quality of life. Regular physical activity can:

Help improve sleep
Promote mental health by lowering incidence of depression and anxiety
Promote aerobic fitness and cardiovascular health
Reduce rate of age-related muscle loss by strengthening bones and muscles
Help maintain a healthy weight
Improve energy levels

It also reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and Type-2 diabetes. It can also give you more confidence to face life's challenges.

Related: 10 Fun Ways to Get Active

What Exactly Is Physical Activity?

Depending on the speed, jogging can be moderate or vigorous intensity activities

Physical activity is simply any activity that gets your body moving. This includes daily activities such as taking the stairs, walking to the supermarket and doing housework. It also includes recreational activities and sports such as jogging, swimming, cycling, brisk walking, ball games, high-intensity interval training, and racket games.

How much exercise do we need? For significant health benefits, you need to engage in a variety of physical activities covering different fitness components – aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility. Aerobic exercise makes your heart beat faster and makes you breathe harder over a prolonged period of time as the muscles in your body require oxygen to work. This improves your heart and lung (cardiovascular) fitness and your endurance. Brisk walking, jogging and swimming are examples of aerobic activities.

Muscle-strengthening exercises work different major muscle groups in the legs, hip, back, abdomen, shoulders and arms, making your muscles and bones stronger and more resilient. Strengthening muscles and joints can also reduce the risk of injury to your body. Examples of strength-training exercises are exercises that use your body weight for resistance (e.g. push ups, pull ups, sit-ups and squats), working with resistance bands and weight training.

Muscle-strengthening exercise should include performing 8-10 exercises involving all the major muscle groups, consisting of 8-12 repetitions for each exercise. Engage in muscle-strengthening activities at moderate-intensity at least twice per week.

Physical Activity Guidelines

You can use weights for muscle-strengthening a couple of times a week

The Singapore Physical Activity Guidelines recommends a healthy adult to engage in at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity in a week. If you can talk in short sentences but cannot sing during an activity, you are engaging in moderate-intensity exercise.

This minimum 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity can also be an accumulation of different combinations of periods of exercise throughout the week.

For example, you can engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity five days a week, or choose to do 60 minutes of physical activity three times a week if you prefer. It’s really up to you to decide! You should also engage in muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days a week.

Who Should Get Active?

Jog 30 minutes 5 times a week to clock 150 minutes

The simple answer is—everyone! Research shows that any amount of exercise, at any age, is beneficial. The more physical activity you engage in, the more health benefits that you stand to gain. No one is too old to enjoy the benefits that regular physical activity can bring.

Conditions such as high blood cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure become more prevalent as we grow older. Spending time on physical activity can reap health benefits for adults of all ages.

Physical activity is important for children too. Exercise helps children build healthy bones, muscles, and develop a healthy mind. They may also be able to sleep better at night and are more ready to learn in school.

Related: Exercise Vs. Diet

So How Do I Get Enough Exercise?

Set realistic exercise goals and track using a calendar

If you are just getting started on physical activity, keep your goals simple and realistic. Setting achievable short-term goals will help you stay focused and motivated. And if you have not been physically active, find a physical activity that you enjoy and start small and start slow.

You can aim to engage in that physical activity, be it brisk walking or jogging, for 10 minutes a day, three times a week when you are just getting started. For example, you can start by walking to the supermarket, or the MRT instead of taking the feeder bus services. Over time, build up the intensity and duration of your physical activity.

You will soon realise that you are able to make regular physical activity a part of your daily routine. You will feel the difference as you gain better health and have more energy to enjoy life. So don’t wait—start getting active today!

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