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What is exercise?

Exercise is sometimes called “physical activity” or “being active”. Exercise is moving the body in ways that make our heart beat faster, or work our muscles. We need both these types of activities each week.

We can also vary the intensity of our exercise. Some activities like brisk (faster) walking are of moderate intensity while jogging or playing soccer are vigorous (more intense).

How much exercise do we need?

Adults should do exercise on most days. This includes:

2.5-5 hours of moderate activity per week or
1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous.

This should also include two muscle strengthening activities per week such as:

lifting weights
household tasks that involve lifting, carrying or digging.

How can we become more active?

We don’t have to go to a gym or join expensive exercise classes, to get the exercise we need. We are more likely to develop good exercise habits when we find ways to include it in our daily lives and do things we enjoy.

If we took a brisk walk of 30 minutes most days, and did some muscle strength exercises twice per week, we would meet recommendations. Muscle strength exercises can be done at home with our own bodies (like push ups or squats) or household items like tins of food or plastic bottles filled with water.

Doing any physical activity is better than doing none.

How active are you now?

Did you know that many things that we already do in our day help us to move and be physically active? Please see the table below which has examples of activities that are light, moderate or vigorous intensity. There maybe some new activities that you can try this week.

Physical activity	Vigorous intensity (more than 6 METs)	Moderate intensity (between 3 and 6 METs)	Light intensity (less than 3 METs)
Home based	Carrying groceries upstairs	Sweeping, vacuuming	Cooking, ironing, mopping
	Mowing the lawn	Washing the dog	Watering plants
		Gardening (digging, weeding, planting)	Playing a musical instrument (general)
		Hanging clothes out, washing by hand	Watering plants
		Carrying groceries while walking
		Changing bed linens
Family	Playing with children (with running)	Pushing a pram / stroller	Caring for children (dressing, bathing, feeding, occasional lifting)
		Carrying a small child and walking	Breast-feeding (sitting or reclining)
		Playing with children - general
Spiritual		Praise with (spiritual) dance	Singing at church / praise
Walking	Walking uphills	Walking with purpose / effort	Slow walking
	Walking uphills carrying load	Walking upstairs slowly / rail support
	Walking upstairs fast	Walking downstairs
	Walking upstairs - high step	Walking the dog
Recreation / sport	Dancing - fast speed, hard effort (like Zumba, Polynesian, Samoan sasa)	Dancing - general, cultural (Greek, Middle eastern, salsa etc.)	Fishing from a boat
	Tennis - singles match	Tennis doubles (social)	Birdwatching
	Basketball game / play	Yoga	Seated yoga / stretching
	Rope skipping (jump rope)	Tai Chi	Seated tai chi
		Lifting weights (not heavy loads)	Video gaming (balance, yoga)
		Video gaming (dance, box)

This information is based on the Compendium of Physical Activities, which has recently been updated in 2024, and is developed by research scientists working in physical activity, exercise and health.