Choosing Activities
A quick guide to giving your body what it needs
What's the best way to get active? What makes one activity better than another? There's no easy answer. It all depends on the shape you're in and what you like doing.
To achieve the health benefits that exercise provides, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology’s physical activity guidelines 
, recommends that adults do 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity each week and incorporate muscle and bone strengthening twice a week. That’s at least 30 minutes of activity, 5 days a week.
No matter what you choose to do, there are three kinds of exercise your body needs:
Aerobic exercises make your heart stronger. For those who are able, brisk walking, running, cycling and dancing are all aerobic activities. Team sports like hockey and soccer also give you great aerobic workouts.
Strength exercises build your muscles and are usually involve lifting weights, but any activity where you apply resistance to your muscles can give you a similar workout.
Flexibility exercises improve your range of motion and condition your joints. They usually involve stretching. Activities such as yoga and tai chi can also help you be more flexible. You can also stretch before and after you exercise to stay healthy and prevent injuries.
No matter what you choose to do, make sure you're enjoying yourself and having lots of fun. That's a winning combination.
When choosing activities try to balance these three types of exercise. You can do one thing that combines all three at once, group different activities into one exercise period, or do them all at separate times.
Here's one way of doing this:
If you are able and can walk 30 minutes a day, stretch before and after your walk. Wear wrist/ankle weights or carry small dumbbells while walking to improve your strength. You can also lift weights at a gym three times a week, on top of walking every day. For even more stretching, try a yoga or Tai chi class once a week.
Here's another way:
Martial arts, such as karate, judo, Tai chi and aikido combine aerobic activity with strength and flexibility training. Why not add a twice-weekly martial arts class to your 30 minutes of brisk daily walking? It's a fun and challenging way to get the three types of exercise your body needs.
Here's one final example:
For those who are able swimming and aqua fitness are great aerobic activities that also build strength. Because you're moving through water instead of air your muscles work harder. Add some stretches before and after you swim and you've got a complete workout.
No matter what you choose to do, make sure you're enjoying yourself and having lots of fun. That's a winning combination.
For even more great ideas about things you can do in your community and around Ontario. Check out the Resource Locator.
