Fitness
This is how much exercise you should be doing per day, according to experts
Exercise is good for you. Even in today’s social media-led world of differing opinions, I think most people can agree on that. But experts are often hit with the same question – how much exercise should I be doing?
As with the answer to most fitness questions, it depends. It depends on what your goals are, where your starting point is and your wider situation. However, I still think it’s an important question for the average person to ask.
Why? Because most people are incredibly busy, and fitting your fitness efforts into an already rammed weekly routine can be tricky. Knowing a ball-park figure to aim for, and some tricks for achieving it, can bridge the gap between someone doing no exercise and someone doing some exercise. And as you’ll find out, this can make a significant difference to your health.
So, I spoke with a cohort of industry-leading experts to determine how much exercise the average person should be doing each day for optimal health.
How much exercise should you do each day?
If I could have you take one thing away from this feature, it would be that movement in any form is usually worthwhile. It doesn’t matter if you can’t commit to a full hour in the gym or hit 10,000 steps a day, “every move counts towards better health”, according to the latest World Health Organisation guidelines on physical activity.
Small amounts of movement can have an impressive impact, whether that’s swapping escalators for stairs where possible or squeezing in a five-minute bodyweight workout wherever you can.
I would also suggest establishing weekly targets, rather than daily ones, as this provides more margin for error amid the unpredictability of life, and can better reflect your consistent behaviours over time. Now, over to the experts.
“Most evidence shows that even doing very small amounts of exercise or physical activity is beneficial for health, but more is better for us,” says Dr Richard Blagrove, a senior lecturer in physiology at Loughborough University.
“For example, even burning 500 kcal per week shows reductions in risk of mortality compared to being completely inactive – according to a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.”
“The same is true for resistance training. Doing only one set of lifting heavy a couple of times per week, to repetition failure, shows benefits to maximum strength that confer benefits to functional performance. But again, doing more than one set is more beneficial in a dose-response way.”
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Walking
A similar approach can be applied to walking, says Dr Elroy Aguiar, an assistant professor of exercise science in the University of Alabama’s department of kinesiology.
“The research suggests that the ideal combination for getting most benefits would be walking around 7,000 to 8,000 steps per day, in terms of volume, and part of that should include 20 to 30 minutes of walking at 100 to 130 steps per minute or faster,” he explains.
A study by the University of Granada concluded that, “if we focus on the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, most of the benefits are seen at around 7,000 steps [per day]”, while 8,000 steps would “significantly reduce the risk of premature death”. It found that faster walking has similar benefits too.
“But the new WHO messaging also says that all movement counts to some degree,” Dr Aguiar adds. “Accumulating little bursts of activity throughout the day just to elevate your heart rate and your metabolic rate a little bit – like walking a bit faster or further to your car – still counts in terms of exercise.”
A large meta-analysis published in the European journal of preventive cardiology concluded that there was a significant link between higher step counts and a lower risk of both all-cause mortality (any reason someone might die) and cardiovascular mortality (death due to diseases of the heart and blood vessels).
These benefits could be seen from daily step totals as low as 3,867 for all-cause mortality and 2,337 for cardiovascular mortality – a far cry from 10,000. Better yet, increasing your daily step total by 1,000 “correlated with a significant reduction of all-cause mortality of 15 per cent, and similarly, a 500-step increment correlated with a reduced risk of CV mortality of seven per cent”.
In plain terms: a little movement can do a lot of good. However, as a blanket rule, Dr Aguiar points to the WHO guidelines, which have also been adopted by the NHS.
Physical activity guidelines
“Adults should aim to do strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) on at least two days a week,” the NHS website states.
“[They should] do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity a week, spreading exercise evenly over four to five days a week, or every day.”
The NHS also recommends minimising the time you spend sitting or lying down, and breaking up lengthy sedentary periods with a spot of activity. On the whole, these figures are a good benchmark and worth keeping top of mind.
Strength training
One area I haven’t addressed from these guidelines is strength training. The WHO guidelines highlight that doing this twice per week can yield impressive results and we now know due to recent studies that strength training can be especially beneficial for bone and muscle strength in midlife, as hormones start to change.
“The evidence suggests that lifting weights regularly – a couple of times per week – improves body composition, glucose homeostasis [linked to risk of type 2 diabetes], muscle mass, cognitive function, metabolic processes and mobility,” says Dr Blagrove.
If you’re thinking of committing to a couple of strength training sessions per week, leading strength coach Dan John recommends full-body workouts for the best results. And these can be as short as 10 minutes for beginners.
“The body is one piece,” he says. “For example, walking is not just for your feet or ankles or legs or butt. Walking does marvels for the spinal column. Walking does marvels for the eyes and the vestibular system. It’s a whole-body movement.”
He recommends focussing on “movements, not muscles” and including an element of pushing, pulling, hinging (at the hips), squatting and carrying in each week of your training.
As case studies, he shares two of his favourite quick kettlebell workouts, which cover most bases; the humane burpee and the SparHawk.
Or, if you want more flexibility in your exercise plans, you can combine his three favourite kettlebell exercises – the kettlebell swing, goblet squat and Turkish get-up, or press-up if this last option is too tricky – in any way you want.
“[In a workout, I think doing] 75 swings, 15 goblet squats and 15 press-ups [or 10 Turkish get-ups] circles that near perfect volume load for a new person who’s in some kind of shape,” John says.
Cardiovascular exercise
“The only parameter of fitness that strength training tends not to change is cardiorespiratory function, which aerobic-based exercise is needed for,” says Dr Blagrove.
For those newer to fitness, walking will suffice here. But for anyone who has established a decent base level of cardiorespiratory fitness (the ability of the heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to the working muscles), slightly more intense activities like faster-paced running, swimming or cycling might be needed to see improvements in this area.
As for quantity, Dr Blagrove points to research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. This suggests that “endurance performance can be maintained for up to 15 weeks when training frequency is reduced to as little as two sessions per week, or when exercise volume is reduced by a third to two-thirds (as low as 13-26 minutes per session), as long as exercise intensity (exercising heart rate) is maintained”.
In other words, a couple of short sessions each week should be enough to maintain many parameters of cardiorespiratory fitness for most people.
Summary
After speaking with experts at the top of their respective fields, there were clear takeaways. Fitness and longevity can seem like complex subjects and often, the sheer volume of data and advice can be off-putting for the average person. To avoid overcomplicating things, here are the key points you should be bearing in mind when it comes to your daily and weekly exercise.
- All movement counts towards better health – just because you don’t have time to walk 10,000 steps per day, run 10k or spend an hour in the gym, that doesn’t negate the impact of any and all activity you are able to do.
- Incidental movement also counts, whether that’s walking from your car to the office or tidying the house.
- Walking further is better, walking faster is better, and combining the two is best for your health.
- The above message applies to most types of exercise: more is usually better, as are higher intensities, but any amount can be beneficial.
- Walking 8,000 steps per day is optimal if you want to maximise your return on investment (in relation to all-cause mortality).
- Small increases in daily steps have been linked to improved health, with benefits starting at roughly 4,000 steps a day for all-cause mortality and 2,500 for cardiovascular mortality.
- Two short (as low as 10 minutes) full-body strength training workouts each week can be enough to trigger impressive results.
- Two short (13-26-minute) bouts of aerobic activity per week is likely enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory fitness in most people.
“My main message is for people to simply pick a sport, exercise or physical activity they enjoy and can consistently adhere to long-term,” Dr Blagrove says.
“There isn’t an exercise type or modality that is ‘best’, or a volume threshold that people should be trying to achieve, like 10,000 steps per day. But doing a small amount of something active most days long-term is better than trying to do excessive amounts short-term then quitting because it feels like a chore.”
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Forget the excuse that it costs too much to exercise. These three people, all members of the Start TODAY community, stay active without being locked into pricey gym memberships, paying for app subscriptions or buying fancy home equipment.
They’re lacing up their walking shoes and heading out the door, searching YouTube for video workouts, dancing with their grandchildren and even digging out years-old workout equipment.
Here, they share the low- and no-cost exercise routines that work for them.
Carol Wells
Workout routine: Stretching, walking, workout videos, dancing with her grandchildren
Carol Wells, 62, watches her 2-year-old grandson twice a week. So, for part of her exercise routine, the two of them dance together. “I found Bee Gees videos — I grew up with the Bee Gees — and he absolutely loves them. I love the fact that he likes it, too. And it makes it so much easier for me to get my exercise in,” she says.
Moving to music, with her grandson or with videos, is a key part of making exercise fun for Wells, especially when the winter weather near her Effingham, Ill., home keeps her indoors.
She has a routine she follows as often as she can, where she mixes bursts of activity in throughout her day. “I try to get in three workouts a day, and I definitely get in at least two,” she says.
Here’s how Wells fits in movement without spending a lot of money:
- Stretching: She starts her days with 10 minutes of stretching, following a YouTube video.
- Morning walk or workout: After stretching, she’s out the door for a one- to two-mile walk if the weather cooperates. In winter, more often than not, she needs to exercise indoors, so she puts on a walking video from eitherYes2Next or Leslie Sansone to get some steps in. “I do 15 to 30 minutes at a time, and I really enjoy that,” she says.
- Afternoon walk or workout: She aims for another activity session in the afternoon. That could be dancing with her grandson or working out to another video, possibly one that includes some low-impact, bodyweight strength training. She doesn’t lift weights because of arthritis in her shoulders and elbows. If the weather is nice, she walks in her neighborhood or in a nearby park, “Walking is my favorite thing. It’s the best kind of exercise for me. I love nature, and I’m an amateur photographer, so I love taking pictures of birds, flowers and the sky,” she says. She aims to get in four to five miles a day.
- Evening workout: After dinner, she exercises again. She’ll search online for workout topics, such as “Zumba to ABBA,” or workouts with Fleetwood Mac music. She finds a lot of workouts she likes through Keep on Moving.
Kathleen Wilkins
Workout routine: Walking, YouTube workout videos, using “vintage” equipment she’s had forever
Kathleen Wilkins, 66, likes to get her exercise in close to home. “I don’t want to get in the car and drive somewhere,” she says. She’s joined gyms in the past, but she always stopped going after a few visits, and then she was locked into the payments for months.
So, she’s built a routine around lots of walking, workout videos and simple home equipment.
Wilkins has been retired for just over a year, so she can fit plenty of walking into her schedule. She walks the roads of her 55-plus mobile home community in Thousand Oaks, Calif., several times a day, covering about two miles each time, and five to six miles per day.
She walks after breakfast with a neighbor, and sometimes again before lunch. After lunch, she walks with another neighbor who uses a wheelchair, and she takes charge of that neighbor’s dog. “She’s a French-mix bulldog, so she gives me a resistance workout,” Wilkins says.
Wilkins can finish her two-mile walks in 30 to 35 minutes, though she sometimes slows her pace to match her walking partners’ or stops to chat with people she hasn’t seen in a while. She doesn’t mind taking her time: “A mile is a mile. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get there, or how fast you’re going.” Plus, she likes getting to know her neighbors and using her walks as a time to socialize.
To add strength training and more cardio to her routine, three mornings a week, Wilkins and a group of neighbors exercise together in their community clubhouse. They choose from different Paul Eugene YouTube workout videos that run 30 to 45 minutes.
Rounding out her fitness schedule, she recently dusted off two old pieces of workout equipment she’s had forever — an ab roller and a rotational disk. They help her build core strength and stability.
Judy Wentz
Workout routine: Daily walks, workout videos, stationary biking, resistance bands, hand weights
Judy Wentz, 58, exercises to manage the pain she has from fibromyalgia, which forced her to retire about four years ago. “I’m working on my health now, more than anything. If I keep moving around, the pain doesn’t have time to catch up with me. When I go to bed at night, sometimes it hits me. But I work through it,” she says.
Fibromyalgia means she needs to keep her workouts low impact. She usually begins her day with either a walking workout video or 20 to 30 minutes on her stationary bike. “If I’m having a really bad day, I’ll do chair exercises to start,” she says.
Wentz and her husband walk together every day, regardless of the weather. “Walking helps me mentally and physically,” she says. She likes to walk to a destination, like an Italian ice shop, a downtown restaurant for lunch or simply to her hometown post office in Bedford, Penn.
When she first started walking, she could only make it to the end of her driveway, or maybe half a block. Now, most days, she walks a total of five to seven miles. And she’s kept up a walking streak for 1,322 days in a row.
Along with walking, she likes a range of home workouts. She’s tried Silver Sneakers at the gym and at a senior center, but she prefers more variety. “I get bored if I’m doing the same thing all the time,” she says. “I’m always trying to find something new and exciting.”
She does strength training at least twice a week and cardio two to three times a week, adding her favorite workouts to a calendar she’s set up for herself. “Each week is different,” she says.
Some of the free workouts she’s tried include:
- Metro Physical Therapy on YouTube: “I used to really struggle with that, but now I can breeze through it.”
- Walking videos that include strength training
- Tai Chi, which she admits wasn’t her favorite
- Zumba
- Yes to Next video workouts
- Resistance band and dumbbell workouts. “Five-pound weights used to be so heavy, and now they’re like nothing,” she says.
She also attends a support group called Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS).
Her workouts and lifestyle changes have helped her lose weight, and she’s been off diabetes medication for two years: “I’ve never had this much energy in my life. I can’t even keep up with myself some days.”
To find support and connect with other like-minded people on their fitness journey, join the Start TODAY Facebook group!
There’s a pervasive mentality in the fitness world that the best workouts leave you soaked in sweat and gasping for air. Popular phrases like “no pain, no gain” and “sore today, strong tomorrow” embody this pedal-to-the-metal mindset.
While there are legit benefits to exercising at or near maximum effort, “you don’t have to work at a 10 out of 10, or have it be the hardest workout of your life, for it to actually be beneficial,” Peloton instructor Rebecca Kennedy tells SELF. In fact, there are tons of unique gains you can score when you incorporate more low-to-moderate-intensity training into your routine. That’s what zone 2 cardio is all about.
Here’s everything you need to know about zone 2 cardio, including its amazing benefits and easy ways to weave it into your schedule. Plus, eight workout examples that fit the bill for zone 2, giving you ample options to experience the underrated awesomeness yourself.
What zone 2 cardio actually is
Simply put, zone 2 cardio is any form of movement that has you working at a low-to-moderate intensity for a sustained period of time, Grace Horan, MS, ACSM-EP, an exercise physiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, tells SELF.
Zone 2 cardio is not about speed, power, or max strength but instead centers on slow, steady efforts performed over the long haul. Basically, it’s endurance training, Horan says.
Traditionally, zone 2 is defined as exercise that keeps your heart rate between 60% to 70% of its maximum level, but this is a generalization; for some people, zone 2 can happen at different percentages of max heart rate, Horan says. It’s better to think of it in terms of how intense exercise feels and how much it impacts your breathing. As Kennedy puts it: “If you can get on a phone call and have a conversation without having to stop and catch your breath, you’re likely in zone 2.”
Benefits of zone 2 cardio
Incorporating zone 2 cardio into your routine will deliver a host of health and fitness benefits. For starters, it helps your cardiovascular system run more efficiently. That’s in part because zone 2 training increases the size and density of mitochondria in your muscle cells, Horan says.
As you might remember from middle school biology, mitochondria are the “powerhouse” part of your cells that produce energy to fuel your movements. Beefing them up will help your body complete both workouts and tasks of daily living (like climbing the stairs and walking your dog) with less stress to your heart, lungs, and muscles, Horan says. Overall, people with larger and more dense mitochondria are more likely to have better cardiovascular fitness and metabolic health, she adds.
Zone 2 training also helps improve your body’s ability to burn fat (in addition to its go-to quick energy source, carbs) as fuel. This allows you to keep exercising for longer. “It’s really going to help build out your endurance and your aerobic base so you can do things for the long haul,” Horan says. That’s why zone 2 training is a core component of marathon training programs.
At the same time, frequently training with zone 2 cardio can also benefit you during higher-intensity exercise, like weightlifting or HIIT workouts. Specifically, you may notice that your heart rate comes back down quicker when you’re resting in between sets, Kennedy says. This translates to more efficient recovery intervals, allowing you to push harder again when it’s time to eke out the next round of reps.
How to know if a workout qualifies as zone 2
Many fitness wearables—like the Apple Watch, for example—use heart rate data to classify which zone(s) your workout falls into. And while these devices do a “relatively good job” at determining the zone, they’re based off a mathematical equation that’s not wholly accurate, Horan says. (The most precise way to measure your maximum heart rate is through a blood lactate test, which, obviously, most people aren’t doing.)
To actually understand if a given workout qualifies as zone 2, she suggests a simpler approach: Pay attention to your breathing and ability to talk. In a true zone 2 workout, “if you were to get on the phone with someone, they might know that you’re exercising, but you can still speak in paragraphs, no problem,” Horan says. If at any time during a zone 2 workout you can only get out a word or sentence at a time, it’s likely you’ve jumped up to zones 3 or 4 and need to decrease your intensity to return to zone 2, she says.
Another way to think about it is perceived exertion—basically, how hard it feels like you’re working. On a scale of 1 to 10, with one being almost effortless and 10 being max effort, a zone 2 workout should feel like a level 3 or 4, Kennedy says.
Lastly, you can evaluate how sustainable your pace feels. “Ask yourself: Could I sustain the pace that I’m going at for 30, 45, or 60-plus minutes without having to slow down?” Kennedy says. If the answer is yes, then you’re likely nailing zone 2.
Eight workouts to incorporate more zone 2 cardio into your routine
To really cash in on the benefits of zone 2 cardio, make sure each workout is at least 30 minutes long, Horan says. If your schedule allows, she suggests doing 60-minute (or longer) sessions at least twice a week, though three to four weekly sessions would be ideal. “The more time you’re able to spend continuously in zone 2, the better,” Horan explains.
The best zone 2 workouts are the ones you genuinely enjoy, because that means you’ll be most likely to do them consistently, Horan explains. Need some inspo? Here are eight examples that can fit the bill. They key with all of these is to keep close tabs on your exertion. For them to qualify as zone 2, make sure you’re staying at that level 3 or 4 and able to easily carry on a conversation the whole time.
- Walking. Taking a brisk walk on the treadmill or outdoors is perhaps the simplest way to check zone 2 cardio off your list.
- Jogging or easy running. This one is more for experienced exercisers who have the baseline fitness to sustain low effort while running. (For people newer to working it, the running motion–which involves the challenge of the “float phase,” where both feet briefly leave the ground–may inherently be high-intensity, no matter how “easy” they try to stride.)
- Rowing. Hop on this cardio machine to get some zone 2 work, as well as a ton of other full-body benefits, like improved coordination and great core activation, to name a few.
- Climbing stairs. The stairclimber machine at the gym can be surprisingly challenging, so you’ll probably need to take it at a pretty slow speed to ensure you stay in zone 2.
- Cycling. Whether you’re outdoors or on a stationary bike, cycling is a great low-impact form of exercise that can also double as zone 2.
- Hiking. This is a great way to reap the benefits of nature while also getting in some zone 2. Just make sure to slow your pace if you’re trekking on an incline to keep your effort level in check.
- Swimming. Another stellar choice for low-impact zone 2 work, swimming is also great for strengthening your core and activating a bunch of different muscles. Check out these tips for getting started.
- Very light weight lifting. Weight lifting in general typically qualifies as anaerobic exercise (which is too intense to meet the zone 2 criteria) but if you pick really light weights, perform exercises for high rep counts, and take minimal recovery, you may be able to meet the mark for zone 2, Kennedy says.
Original article appeared in Self
Fitness
Alaya F, Upside Down, Lifestyle, health, fitness, exercise, workout, alaya f workout routine
Last Updated:
In a recent Instagram Reel, actor Alaya F shared how to do an upside-down arc, a position where she is facing the floor in a handstand position and balancing on dumbbells.
Alaya F often shares advance level exercises on her social media
Bollywood celebrities continue to raise the bar with their inspiring workout regimes, exercises and diets that support their glowing skins and vibrant personalities. Along the same vein, popular actress Alaya F recently came up with a unique ‘upside-down’ posture.
Taking to Instagram, Alaya performed one of her favourite exercises.
The actress, who was wearing a grey bralette and black shorts, first bent upright towards a pair of dumbbells placed adjacent to a wall. Upon firmly holding the dumbbells, Alaya gradually raised her left and then her right leg. The actress eventually reached a position facing the turf in a handstand position, creating an ‘upside-down’ arc.
Later on, Alaya raised the dumbbells one at a time while balancing herself against the wall with both her legs split widely. Having successfully completed her dumbbells raise, the actress returned to her original position and closed out the video.
What are the Benefits?
While unique and difficult to execute initially, the exercise that Alaya F showed in the video comes with an array of physical benefits. Since the actress must have done this upside-down exercise many times away from the spotlight on social media, one could
see that it has helped the actress build great muscle endurance.
Despite the awkward positioning, she was able to balance herself very well on a handstand. Goes without saying that the exercise strengthens the core. As the weight of the dumbbells puts pressure on our split-up legs, this exercise should also improve flexibility
in the hips and hamstrings.
Alaya F’s Fitness Routine Raises Eyebrows Again
The video of the upside-down exercise was not the first time that actress Alaya F caught people’s attention with her fitness regime. The actress previously spoke about embracing the ’75 Hard’ rule in her workout plans.
“I’ve just restarted this thing called the 75 Hard. It involves two workouts a day: one indoor and one outdoor, with each lasting a minimum of 45 minutes. One of them has to be outdoors,” she said, as quoted by NDTV Lifestyle. The actress also explores the
benefits of meditation and swears by many of her healthy lifestyle choices.
“I also drink 3.8 litres of water a day, read at least 10 pages of a non-fiction book, and follow a strict no-cheat-meal policy. Oh, and no alcohol allowed.”
February 04, 2026, 13:19 IST
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