Health panel: How much exercise should I do a week?

Question

I go to a 45-minute aerobics class twice a week to keep fit and in shape, and have done so for the past four years. I have always thought myself relatively healthy even though I am probably about a stone and a half overweight, but a friend told me yesterday that I should be doing at least half an hour of exercise five days a week just to keep my body ticking over properly. And I’m a bit shocked! Is my exercise routine sufficient or does it need an overhaul?

I’m a 31-year-old woman. I don’t smoke, but I drink about 20 units of alcohol a week, and because my job is demanding I end up eating ready-prepared meals most nights (healthy ones, though).

Jaimie Bird, the finess trainer

You’re only doing an hour and a half of exercise out of 168 hours in the week, so you’re barely putting in 1 per cent – not enough! In the US, the Surgeon General is now advising at least one hour’s exercise a day to combat obesity and low fitness levels. I ask my clients to work out at least five times a week, and to vary their activities for all-round fitness. You are used to aerobics, but can you run for half an hour or swim 30 lengths?

Buy a training watch to push yourself, and measure how hard you are training. Your maximum heart rate should be 209 minus 0.9 x age – so around 181 for you. (For men it’s 214 minus 0.8 x age.) Weight training is also vital as people get older, because they tend to do less exercise and lose body mass, and therefore their metabolism slows. Weight training helps speed up the metabolism, which means you burn calories and your body stays stronger.

· Jamie Baird is a fitness coach (www.thefitnesscoach.com) and has trained clients including Kate Beckinsale and Charles Worthington

Dr Peter Mace, the doctor

It’s good you exercise, but for base-level fitness you could do more. The guidelines recommend at least half an hour of exercise five days a week, whether it’s gym work, walking up stairs or going for a brisk walk. If you enjoy aerobics, I’d suggest you go once or twice more per week and also balance these classes with strength training and some flexibility work, as it’s the combination of these three activities that provides a balanced fitness. If you want definitive answers about your overall health and fitness, a Bupa health check gives an accurate indication of your fitness and likelihood of disease, and can tell you the type of exercise you need to do. Good test results for your age would be a resting heart beat between 60-70, a body mass index (BMI) of 18-22, blood pressure of 120 over 80 and cholesterol below 5 – and ideally lower. I’d want you drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol and avoiding processed meals.

· Dr Peter Mace is assistant medical director of Bupa Wellness (www.bupawellness.co.uk)

Di John Briffa, the nutritionist

While the evidence shows that exercise is generally ineffective for the purposes of weight loss, losing those extra pounds would be a good way to improve your general health. But you should really look to make changes to your diet.

The problem here is that low-fat diets have been shown to be ineffective for weight loss in the long term, and they tend to be higher in carbs (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals), which give considerable release of sugar into the bloodstream and have weight-gaining potential. I’d recommend an eating plan where sugar is released more slowly and/or contains more protein, such as a Glycaemic Index-related (GI) diet.

Cut back on the alcohol and base your diet on natural, unprocessed foods such as meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils and nuts. You don’t necessarily need to get rid of the ready meals, as long as they contain meat or fish with vegetables and little else.

· Dr Briffa is a holistic doctor. His health-focused blog can be found at www.drbriffa.com

· If you have a question for our experts, email [email protected]

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