Choosing what exercise to do

Regular exercise brings many health benefits. If you’re looking to do more, it’s important to find the right activity for you.

Aim for both regular aerobic activity and muscle strengthening exercises to meet your recommended physical activity guidelines.

When choosing an activity, think about your current ability level and the results you want to achieve. You can still do regular physical activity if you have disabilities or are older and haven’t exercised before.

Activities for beginners

Doing more physical activity may seem daunting at first. Often that’s caused by the thought of going to the gym or taking up a new sport.

You may want to:

build up your confidence by exercising alone or at home first
begin to build exercise into your daily routine

Great exercises for beginners include:

Advanced activities

If you’re already doing regular physical activity and are looking to try something new or more advanced, have a look online for activities in your local area.

More advanced activities include:

competitive running, swimming or cycling
climbing
weight lifting
circuit training

If you’re a member of a gym, you could ask if they have personal trainers, they’ll be able to safely push you further in your training and update your fitness plan. More intense exercise is much safer when done under the supervision of an expert. This may be costly, but some gyms do include personal training sessions in their membership packages. Costs do vary so make sure to shop around.