Exercise Guides

Exercise has many benefits. Exercise can reduce the risk of major illnesses and chronic diseases and can help you lead a healthier and even happier life. Research shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

BASRaT’s Exercise Guides

BASRaT’s Guides to Exercise will help you to safely start exercising or inspire you to try something new. Check out our guide to running and be inspired by our cycling guide to discover the type of cycling that could suit you. here

Motivation

Exercise can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer by up to 50% and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%.

How much exercise do we need to do?

To stay healthy and get the most benefits, aim to be active daily and achieve at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week through a variety of activities. However, if you currently do very little exercise, any amount is beneficial, start with small amounts and gradually increase the amount you do!

The easiest way to get moving is to make activity part of everyday life, like walking or cycling instead of using the car to get around. However, the more you do, the better.

Use our exercise flowchart to check if it is OK for you to exercise. here

Moderate and vigorous activity

To benefit your health, you need to be moving quickly enough to raise your heart rate, breathe faster and feel warmer. You can tell if you are working at a moderate intensity if you can still talk but you can't sing the words of a song.

Vigorous intensity activity requires you to work even harder and can bring health benefits over and above that of moderate activity. You can tell when it’s vigorous activity because you're breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit.

Check out this infographic which shows you the benefits of different types of exercise and guides you on the amount to do each week. here

Further exercise guides

The NHS’s Live Well website has many inspiring suggestions on how to fit exercise into your daily life from 10 minute workouts to ideas for exercising together as a family. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/Activelifestyle.aspx

Prior to Exercise Disclaimer

Prior to beginning any exercise program, including the activities depicted in this guide, individuals should seek medical evaluation and clearance to engage in activity. If you want a guide to exercise clearance, please see below, but this does not replace medical clearance from your General Practitioner. Not all exercise programs are suitable for everyone, and some programs may result in injury. Activities should be carried out at a pace that is comfortable for the user. Users should discontinue participation in any exercise activity that causes pain or discomfort. In such event, professional consultation should be immediately obtained.