Walking

It is recommended that adults should take about 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity over a week, and this can be broken down into any sized chunks of time, small or large, over as many days of the week as you like.

Walking is a great form of physical activity that does not require any particular equipment and is a great way to reduce stress.

We all walk much less these day than we used to.  Even in the last 10 years, the average number of steps we take each day has reduced by 20%.

Experts now recommend that adults should aim to walk 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles).  This might sound like a lot but if you add up all the walking you do around the house, doing the shopping, cleaning the house or mowing the lawn and walking around at work, it soon adds up.

If we all increase our levels of physical activity to 30 minutes of moderate activity, 5 times a week, we are reducing a risk factor – physical inactivity – for the following conditions:

• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis
• Diabetes
• Some cancers
• Mental health problems