No matter what your age, you can make a difference in your life by being physically active. It is never too late to start and it is never too late to make a huge difference in your life.
We all reach an age where we begin to wish for eternal youth. Something that will help us stay younger longer and live a longer life. Unfortunately no one has found that fountain yet, but there is something that can give you similar results, physical activity.

Think about it. Physical activity can help you live a longer, healthier, happier life as well as help prevent diseases including type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Are you active enough?

The Chief Medical Officer has set national recommendations for physical activity, based on the minimum activity needed to gain health benefits, they are:

The good news is, you don’t have to do the whole 30 – 60 minutes in one go. The activity can be accumulated throughout the day in 10 -15 minute bouts.

What is moderate intensity activity?

Moderate intensity activities are activities that make you feel warm and slightly out of breath, like brisk walking, gardening, swimming and dancing. At this intensity you should still be able
to talk without being too breathless.

Why be active?

There is now extensive evidence which shows that an active lifestyle will
help you:

• Feel more energetic and lively
• Improve your health
• Feel better
• Control your weight

10 benefits of physical activity

• Live longer!
• Healthy heart
• Control blood pressure
• Reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol
• Less likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes
• Stronger joints, bones and muscles
• Less likely to fall
• Control weight
• Feel good about yourself
• Make friends

Top Tips for getting active

• Aim to build up to at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on 5 or more days of the week. If you are quite inactive, increase the time you're active by a few minutes each day.
• You don't need to aim for 30 minutes in one go – think 'mini-workout' instead such as 5 minutes taking the stairs instead of the lift.
• Start a walking or jogging group at lunchtime
• The journey to and from work is a great opportunity to increase activity. Try adding a walk by getting off the bus earlier or walking to the station.
• Aim to build up the number of steps per day gradually
• Take a longer route to the water cooler or drinks machine
• Deliver internal mail yourself on foot not always by email
• Find a friend to start a new activity with, this will help keep you both motivated, as you look forward to catching up with each other at the same time
• To get started visit the Places to be Active section to find a range of sports, activities and locations to try something you enjoy!

Work your way to 10,000 steps a day

The average worker manages just over 3,000 steps a day but evidence suggests that increasing to 10 000 steps a day can help to improve your health and reduce the likelihood of you developing many diseases.
Build up to 10,000 steps a day, here are a few tips to get you started:

• climb the stairs 6 flights a day 150 steps
• visit colleagues for a business chat rather than email or get up every hour for a two minute stretch, walk around your office 200 steps
• park the car further away from work 600 steps
• take longer routes to the bathroom, copier, drinks machine 1000 steps
• go for a brisk 15 minute walk at break or lunchtime 1500 steps
• walk more of the journey to work (20 minutes a day) 2000 steps