Physical activity

What is physical activity?

Physical activity is any activity that you may do that helps to improve or maintain your physical fitness as well as your health in general.

It can include:

• Everyday activities. For example, walking or cycling to work or school, doing housework, gardening, DIY around the house, or any active or manual work that you may do as part of your job.

• Active recreational activities. This includes activities such as dancing, active play amongst children, or walking or cycling for recreation.

• Sport. For example, exercise and fitness training at a gym or during an exercise class, swimming and competitive sports such as football, rugby and tennis, etc.

What are the health benefits of physical activity?

The health benefits of doing regular physical activity have been shown in many studies. You are likely to get the most benefits to your health if you are someone who is not very active at all and you become more active.

Overall, people who do the recommended levels of physical activity can reduce their risk of premature death by 20-30%. Other health benefits include the following:

Coronary heart disease

Your risk of developing coronary heart disease, such as angina or a heart attack, is much reduced if you are regularly physically active. Inactive people have almost double the risk of having a heart attack compared with those who are regularly physically active.

If you already have heart disease, regular physical activity is usually advised as an important way to help prevent your heart disease from getting worse. 

Stroke

Physically active people are less likely to have a stroke. One study found that women aged 45 and older who walk briskly (at least three miles per hour), or who walk for more than two hours a week, reduce their risk of stroke by a third compared with less active women.

Cholesterol

Regular physical activity has been shown to raise levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. This is good cholesterol because it may actually help to protect against cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease). 

High blood pressure

Regular physical activity can help to lower your blood pressure levels if you have high blood pressure. It can also help to prevent high blood pressure from developing. High blood pressure is one of the risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

Diabetes

If you are regularly physically active then you have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than inactive people. The greater the amount of physical activity that you do, the lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

How much physical activity should adults do?

Adults should aim to do a mixture of aerobic activities and muscle-strengthening activities.

Current recommendations

During the daytime, all age groups should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting).

Under-5s:

• Physical activity should be encouraged from birth, particularly through floor-based play and water-based activities in safe environments.
• Children of pre-school age who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active daily for at least 180 minutes (3 hours), spread throughout the day.

Children and young people (aged 5-18 years):

• Moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes and up to several hours every day.
• Vigorous intensity activities, including those that strengthen muscle and bone, should be incorporated at least three days a week.

Adults (aged 16-64 years):

• Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes (2½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more. For example, 30 minutes on at least five days a week.
• Comparable benefits can be achieved by 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity spread across the week or combinations of moderate and vigorous intensity activity.

Older adults (aged 65 years and older):

• Older adults who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits. Some physical activity is better than none, and more physical activity provides greater health benefits.
• Older adults should aim to be active daily and, if possible, aim for the same amount of physical activity as younger adults.

What about older people, children and teenagers, and pregnant women?

Older people

If you are over the age of 65 you should still aim to do the same amount of aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activity as younger adults, depending on your ability. As well as this, a particular goal for older people should be, where possible, to do activities to help with flexibility and balance.This is to help reduce the risk of falls, and injury from falls. 

Children and teenagers

Children and teenagers should get at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day. The 60 minutes can be made up from various shorter sessions and a mixture of different activities. For example, a mixture of play, Physical Education (PE) at school, games, dance, cycling, a brisk walk to school, sports, various outdoor activities, etc.

Pregnant women

It is safe to continue to do some physical activity during pregnancy. However, the type of activity that you choose needs to be appropriate. A separate leaflet called 'Pregnancy and Physical Activity' discusses this in more detail.