Why exercise?

Exercise helps you keep fit and healthy and also helps to control your weight. By exercising regularly you reduce your risk of illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer - it also helps keep you feeling good about yourself.

Exercising is actually pretty good fun and you might even find that you make friends and meet new people.

How much exercise do I need to do?

The national guidelines for physical activity recommend that you do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week – which is only two and a half hours a week. It’s important to spread your exercise out and make sure that it fits in easily with your routine. Whether that means you exercise 5 times a week for 30 minutes, or any other combination, isn’t important – it’s simply a case of making a little bit of extra time each week to keep yourself healthy.

What can I do?

Physical activity doesn’t just mean running and team sports. Walking at a decent pace counts as physical activity so there’s lots of different ways that you can stay in shape. Obviously the more vigorous the exercise the more benefit you’ll get but it’s really all about finding something that you’re comfortable doing and that you enjoy.

There are lots of easy ways to get active, for example:

• Walking
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Dancing

Team sports

Team sports are a great way to meet people, make friends and stay in shape. Whether it’s football, hockey, netball or basketball you’ll usually get about an hour of exercise and have fun. It doesn’t need to be competitive; there are plenty of social leagues in all sorts of sports that you can get involved in. You could even get a few friends together and organise your own weekly sporting activities, whether it’s a game of 5 a sides or doubles badminton. You will usually be able to find local pitches and facilities that you can hire out.

Young Scot WOW

Use our ‘What’s on Where’ website to find lots of different ways to stay active in your area.

Active Nation

If you do feel like starting to do a bit more exercise why not visit the Active Nation website and set yourself a personal activity goal? You’ll feel great meeting a challenge you’ve set yourself!