Ask ten people how much exercise you should be doing and you'll probably get ten different answers. Some will say 10,000 steps. Others will tell you to train every day, or that three sessions a week is plenty. With so much conflicting advice, it's easy to either overdo it or decide it's all too hard.
Australia has official guidance on this, and it was recently updated. The Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for adults and older adults were released by the federal health department. Researchers at the University of Wollongong were involved in developing them. This article explains what the guidelines recommend in plain terms, and how a few group classes a week can help you meet them.
A whole-day approach
The biggest change in the new guidelines is that they look at your whole 24-hour day. Instead of treating exercise as a separate topic, they consider how it fits together with the time you spend sitting and sleeping. The idea is that a healthy day includes enough movement and enough rest, with less time spent sitting still in between.
According to the guidelines report, following them is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and some cancers. The report also links them to better heart health and mental health.
What the guidelines recommend for adults
For adults aged 18 to 64, the guidelines recommend being active on most days, preferably every day, with a variety of activities at different intensities. That can include:
- Moderate to vigorous activity for 30 minutes or more on most days, adding up to 2.5 hours or more each week.
- Muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week, working all the main muscle groups.
- Functional activities on 3 or more days a week that target mobility and balance, along with coordination.
- Several hours of light activity each day, such as pottering around the house or standing while you cook.
On sitting, the guidelines recommend limiting the time you spend sedentary and breaking up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
On sleep, they recommend 7 to 9 hours of good quality sleep for adults. Going to bed and waking up at consistent times is part of the advice too.
For adults aged 65 and over, the activity recommendations are similar, and the sleep recommendation is 7 to 8 hours. Separate recommendations also exist for pregnancy, as well as for people with disability or a chronic health condition. If any of those apply to you, talk to your GP about the right approach.
What do moderate and vigorous mean?
The guidelines describe intensity relative to your own capacity, rather than a fixed pace that applies to everyone.
Moderate intensity is described as activity where you're out of breath but still able to have a conversation. Examples include brisk walking and cycling. Martial arts also appear on the list.
Vigorous intensity is activity where it's tricky to hold a conversation. Examples include sprinting and high-intensity interval training.
This personal approach to intensity is similar to how Myzone works in MPower classes. Myzone gives you live feedback on your effort based on your own heart rate zones, so you can see how hard you're working for your body, regardless of what anyone else in the room is doing.
How group classes can fit into your week
A regular routine of group classes can cover a good share of the recommendations, and MPower's four formats line up with them in different ways.
Box is skill-based boxing for power and coordination. Depending on how hard you're working, it can count towards your moderate to vigorous activity, and it also involves plenty of coordination and footwork.
Build is structured strength training for muscle and tone. It's a direct way to tick off your muscle-strengthening days.
Burn combines boxing and bike cardio for conditioning and endurance. It's designed to be high intensity, so for many people it will sit in the vigorous range.
BBB rotates through boxing skill work and strength stations, with cardio bursts mixed in, so one class can contribute to several recommendations at once.
The guidelines point out that some activities count towards more than one recommendation. A BBB class is a good example.
A sample week
The plan below shows one way an adult might put it together. It's an example only, so adjust it to your own fitness and schedule.
- Monday: Box class
- Tuesday: 30-minute brisk walk
- Wednesday: Build class
- Thursday: Rest day, with a short walk at lunch
- Friday: Burn or BBB class
- Saturday: Walk along the coast or a swim
- Sunday: Rest, with some light activity around the house
Throughout the week, get up from your desk or the couch regularly. The guidelines note that standing, for those who are able, can be a practical first step away from long periods of sitting.
You can check class times on the MPower timetable, which runs from 6:00 AM through to evening sessions on weekdays, plus Saturday mornings.
If you're nowhere near the targets yet
Reading a list of recommendations can feel discouraging if you're currently doing very little. The guidelines are clear on this point. For people not yet meeting them, making progress towards any of the recommendations brings some health benefits.
The companion advice also suggests starting with small amounts of activity and gradually building up from there. If you like tracking steps, the guidelines suggest aiming for 7,000 or more a day. One class a week is a perfectly good place to begin. Once that feels comfortable, add a walk. Later, add a second class.
Talk to your GP or physio before starting a new exercise routine if you have a heart condition or another health condition. The same goes if you're pregnant or coming back from an injury.
Sleep is part of the plan
It's easy to overlook the sleep part of the guidelines, but it sits alongside activity as one of the core recommendations. Training hard on very little sleep isn't a healthy trade. If fitting in early classes means cutting your sleep short, look at evening sessions instead, or move your bedtime earlier.
Start building your week
You don't need to meet every recommendation straight away. Pick one or two changes, get them into a routine and build from there.
If you'd like help getting started, MPower is offering a limited number of new members their first 2 weeks of unlimited Box Build & Burn classes free, plus free boxing gloves to keep, a free Myzone heart rate monitor and a $0 joining fee. Our coach-led classes are beginner-friendly, and our trainers will help you work at the right level. Claim your 2 weeks free and start building a week that works for you.
