High cholesterol and exercise

Getting started

So how do you go about making physical activity part of your life? Start by gradually increasing the amount you do as part of your daily routine – for example, walking more, putting more effort into household and garden chores. The ultimate aim is to build up to 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week. But don’t worry if you can’t achieve 30 minutes straightaway – start with 10 minutes, twice a day and build it up when you feel ready. See below for 5 ways to inject more activity into a typical day.

If you like to have structure and routine in your life, you may prefer to find specific times to exercise and organise a regular swim, walk or a fitness class.  Again, the aim is to work up to 30 minutes per day of aerobic activity, 5 days a week.

Here’s an idea of how many calories you burn doing some common activities...

• A 14 stone man will burn 300 calories walking at a fairly leisurely pace (covering one mile every 20 minutes) for an hour
• A 12.5 stone man will burn 530 calories swimming breaststroke for 40 minutes
• A 10.5 stone woman will burn 400 calories cycling at 10-12 mph for 1 hour

Once you have got into the habit of being more active, it’s a great idea to introduce strength training 2-3 times per week. This doesn’t have to involve going to the gym – you can use your own body weight, or household items such as cans, bags of sugar or water bottles. To check that you are performing exercises correctly borrow a fitness book from the library, watch a fitness DVD or book a couple of sessions with a personal trainer. Choose 8 -10 exercises and repeat each one 8 -12 times.  Try to do this twice a week, but not on consecutive days.  Remember to stretch after your strength workout, to help muscles return to their resting length. Hold stretches for 10-15 seconds and don’t jerk, pull or overstretch. Stretching should not hurt!

Top tip: Why not combine aerobic exercise and strength training in a circuit class format?

5 ways to inject more activity into a typical day

• If you drive to the supermarket, park as far from the store as possible
• Walk round and talk to colleagues rather than emailing them
• Get up to change TV channels rather than using the remote control
• Visit a sandwich shop that is a 10 minute walk at lunchtime instead of the one opposite your office!
• Stand up, and walk around if possible, when you are on the phone

Exercising while listening to music can help you keep going for longer. If you can synchronise your movement to music, so much the better. Researchers who studied cycling to music saw that it had had an effect on how fast the men cycled.

Taking it further

If you already exercise regularly, don’t rest on your laurels! The body is very good at adapting to the physical demands you place upon it – and it’s only by moving the goalposts a little further away every now and again that you can make further fitness gains. There are three ways you can progress, nicely summed up by the acronym FIT.

F for frequency: you can exercise more often.

I for intensity: you can push yourself a little harder during exercise.

T for time: you can increase the length of your workouts.

Top tip: Pick just one letter at a time to work on! Don’t try to increase the duration and intensity of an exercise activity all at once.

6 top tips to finding the right exercise teacher or venue

• Watch an exercise class before making a decision about joining, to see if it looks like something you’ll enjoy and be able to do.
• Visit a health club/gym you are considering joining for a tour of the facilities. Make sure there are lots of different options for activity available.
• Ask about a teacher or instructor’s qualifications and experience. Are they aligned to a governing body, such as the British Wheel of Yoga: www.bwy.org.uk or Register of Exercise Professionals www.exerciseregister.org
• Consider getting some one-to-one sessions with a qualified personal trainer to get you off on the right foot. Check out the Register of Exercise Professionals www.exerciseregister.org or National Register of Personal Trainers www.nrpt.co.uk
• Tell the instructor or trainer about your condition and medication and ask how this might affect your ability to exercise and whether they are able to modify/adapt activities to suit your needs.
• Use your intuition. If you don’t get on with someone, or don’t get a good feel about a place, look elsewhere.

SHS078 Date of preparation May 2013