Getting active

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You can increase your daily activity by making small changes throughout your day. For example, walk or cycle instead of driving the car; do some gardening; or get off the bus a few stops early and walk the rest of the way. All these things add to your level of daily physical activity.

So how much physical activity should you be doing? A total of just 30 minutes of moderate activity on most if not every day, will provide positive benefits and improve your health.

You can even build up to 30 minutes of moderate physical activity with periods of activity as brief as 10 minutes, three times throughout the day. The easiest way to do this is to build on what you are already doing and what you enjoy.

A good way to improve your heart and lung health (cardiovascular functioning) is to regularly undertake activities that will increase your heart rate. These include, for example:

• Gardening
• Swimming
• Playing with grandchildren
• Dancing
• Cycling
• Tai Chi
• Aerobics or water aerobics
• Golf

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