How much exercise?

[Deborah Mason]

Hello - given I'm trying to lose weight, how much and what type of exercise would you recommend each week such that it will help my weight loss? I am currently doing a one hour Zumba class each Saturday. I appreciate that's not enough but I would like to know if this is the right sort of exercise, and how many classes/activities each week I should be aiming for.

Thank you.

[Wendy Green]

Hi Deborah,

Adults should do at least 5 x 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week for general fitness. Moderate intensity exercise is where you get a little warm or sweaty and slightly out of breath.

To lose weight you should aim at 5 x 1hr of moderate intensity exercise. This doesn't have to involve going to the gym, or attending an exercise class; it could be something that you can integrate into your daily life, like taking the dog for a brisk walk, or walking to the shops. It could even be doing the housework - so long as you get slightly breathless and warm. Also, it doesn't all have to be done in one go - for instance you could do three 20 minute walks in a day, rather than one 1 hour walk. In my experience it's far easier to get enough exercise by fitting it in to your daily routine.

Hope this helps you.

[mark]

Hi Deb,

I think you would benefit more from high intensity training. (HIT) So exercising at high intensity for short periods of time. This would suit your lifestyle and needs keeping you interested motivated and seeing swift results.

Weekly 3 times.

2 examples of this type of training would be circuit triaing and fartlec trianing (sprint/jog) this type of training can be taylored and changed for multiple needs.

Daily keep your activity levels up so walking, stairs, manual labour etc move move move.