If you are a non exerciser or are relatively sedentary from the age of 30 your health risks significantly increase. Being this can lead to a higher risk of heart disease at middle aged and older. To understand exactly how much we need to be doing for our health the Australian researchers and the American Heart Association recommend 30 minutes a day for five days a week (150 minutes) of moderate exercise. The chosen exercise should be performed at a level where you can talk but you feel slightly breathless.

If you can dedicate this time each day of this intensity, your efforts will reduce your risk factors significantly. So exercise and being active surely sounds more appealing?

The type of exercise does not really matter so long as you become more physically active in your day to day life. Aerobic exercise and activity is very important for cardiovascular health, and strength training will maintain your posture and enable you to conduct day to day activities with more ease as you get older

Some research shows that physical activity may not be able to reverse age-related damage to your cardiovascular system but what has been proven is that exercise can still help significantly in slowing down the process. We should understand from this, that it is never too late to start getting more active.

This will always be beneficial for the heart and our general well-being. You do not have to aim for a high level of training for many hours in a week. Just small improvements like using the stairs rather than the left can still help. All these small changes will contribute to your 30 minutes of activity in one day.