The NHS has some very helpful recommendations on how much exercise we need to do, and breaks it down into age categories:
- Children under 5 years
- Children and young people aged 6-18 years
- Adults aged 19-64 years
- Older adults aged 65+
These pages are a great starting point if you’re looking to begin your fitness journey. However, every one of us is different, and the amount of exercise we need differs depending on our size, shape, body composition, health conditions, lifestyle and fitness goals. So if you want to get more serious about your fitness, you need to understand how these factors affect how much exercise you need to be doing.
Body Type
We all know someone who seems to live on a diet of pizza and beer and still fits into their skinny jeans, while others gain weight simply by looking at a takeaway menu. You might have heard about somatotypes, the three main body types of human beings.
Endomorphs have wider hips, stockier bodies, and tend to gain muscle and fat easily due to a slower metabolism. They should do more cardio than strength training to reduce body fat while maintaining muscle mass.
Ectomorphs have smaller frames with thin arms and legs. Their fast metabolism means they lose fat easily but struggle to build muscle. When ectomorphs don’t exercise regularly, they can develop a ‘skinny-fat’ appearance as body fat accumulates around their middle and their muscles dwindle. Ectomorphs should focus more on strength training to build muscle.
If you’re a mesomorph, you’ll have an athletic build and be able to build muscle easily without gaining too much fat. Mesomorphs can split their exercise evenly between strength and cardio.
Most people are a combination of body types, usually with one type more prominent than others. Researching your body type can help you understand what sort of exercise you need to do and how often. Fitness professionals at our gyms can also assist with this.
Lifestyle
The good news for many people is that a lot of jobs involve physical activity, counting towards your daily exercise and reducing the need to sweat your brains out after work. Manual jobs such as construction, gardening, and warehouse work involve heavy lifting, so you might only need light cardio a couple of times a week to stay fit and lean.
Teachers, nurses, shop assistants, delivery drivers, waiting staff, and cleaners are regularly on the move. You’ll get plenty of steps in as part of your day job, so topping this up with a couple of strength sessions a week will help you stay toned.
It’s you desk jockeys who are most at risk of problems associated with inactivity. If you sit for long periods as part of your job, you need to incorporate bite-sized chunks of exercise into your daily routine. Even if it’s just a ten-minute walk or a quick set of lunges and push-ups every couple of hours, it’s going to keep you ticking over. You’ll also need to do more vigorous activity to top this up. Strength training is crucial as your muscles will waste away from prolonged sitting, while cardio will keep your heart and lungs functioning effectively.
Outside of work, your diet impacts how much exercise you need. Losing weight boils down to a calorie deficit – burning more than you consume. So, if you like to indulge in a slice of cake or glass of wine on the reg, you’ll need to offset this with additional exercise to keep your health (and waistline) in check.
Fitness Goals
Remember that getting fitter, stronger, or leaner isn't about doing more exercise. In fact, training every day is likely to lead to injury and slow down your progress. It’s about increasing the intensity of your training in the same time frame. Think heavier weights and faster runs, swims, or cycles.
Age
If you’re of a finer vintage, you’ll remember the days when you could run for miles or play back-to-back football matches and bounce out of bed the next morning with barely a twinge of soreness. Nowadays, that bounce out of bed is more like a roll, and there are a few more creaks in the old knees.
However, this doesn’t mean you need to do less exercise. It simply means you might need to reduce intensity or switch to activities that put less strain on our joints. In fact, maintaining exercise as we age is vital for helping us avoid injuries and falls, reducing the risk of diseases like dementia and strokes, and boosting mental health.
Low-impact activities like walking, swimming, and yoga for half an hour a day are fantastic for older people who might not be able to sprint up hills anymore.
Long-Term Health Conditions
While medical professionals may sometimes recommend pausing exercise to recover during bad episodes, you can generally do the recommended exercise if you have a long term health condition. You might just need to adapt.
Some conditions make vigorous exercise difficult, such as respiratory problems, in which case you may need to stick to lower-intensity activities. If you have a mobility issue, you may need to do more static or water-based activities to maintain your fitness.
In almost all cases, there are options that enable you to safely maintain regular activity in ways you enjoy, improving your quality of life and chances of recovery.
So, How Much Exercise Should You Be Doing?
After all that, the answer (annoyingly) is that it depends. The answer is as unique as you are. It’s a blend of your age, body type, current level of health, fitness goals, and lifestyle. The key is finding activities you enjoy and can stick to easily, understanding your own body, and adjusting things as needed.
A membership with Active Luton can support you in doing all of those things. Take a look at our range of great value options and start your journey to great wellbeing today.