How many hours of exercise do you do each week?

[iknowwheretheothersockgoes]

I'm starting to think I need to get myself into shape, but I can't work out if it will be enough. How much do you do per week?

Here's my plan :

Monday - 1 hour Pilates 1 hour swim
Tuesday - 1 hour gym (cycling, cross trainer, rowing)
Wednesday - 1 hour swim
Thursday - 1 hour gym (as above) or swim
Friday - 1 hour pilates

Is that enough to get me feeling physically fit? It's only 6 hours, which doesn't seem like a lot.

I try and get to the gym 4-5 times a week, 1.5 hours a session (cardio and weights)

I WFH so struggle to get much exercise in unless I head to the gym after work or go for a power walk on non-gym days.

I am also not sure this thread is representative!

But FWIW I am a newbie to exercise (having finally realised that in order to be fit you need to do something about it!).

I do;

30 minutes walk a day minimum (this was usual for me)
1 x 45 minute legs bums and tums weekly- hoping to build to twice a week
2 x 30 minute swim.
2 x 30 minute stationary bike- hoping to build up to 45-60 minutes a time

Been 4 weeks and is REALLY starting to show in terms of how I feel and look.

I do kettlebells for 20 minutes 3 / 4 times a week. It's brutal and I have a rest day in between. Building strength and really starting to see progress as it is a realistic amount of time and frequency.

Whatever you do, work out your aim and what you can realistically fit in as consistency is the most important thing.

Also, no matter how much you do, if other areas are neglected it won't show the same results. Other easy tweaks I have incorporated are:

Stop eating at night after dinner and don't eat again for at least 12 hours
Sleep 7 hours minimum
Cut most refined sugar
Eating chia pudding daily for digestion
Added in more plants
Less processed food

I feel incredible. Just small consistent things have made such a difference

This is why mumsnet makes me laugh, if everyone here is telling the truth I'll eat my hat.
I bet its the same group that swarm the diet threads to tell everyone they manage on one wafer thin cracker and half a leek for the day. And earn 200k a year. And are 25.

Little and often is key. Don't worry about people doing 6 hours. Strength training is the absolute best thing you can do. Rest day between. You can do a little cardio on those days - I do a YouTube Zumba or just dance.

You have to give your body a chance to rest and repair. This is AS important as the exercise itself

Ha ha I agree 100%!!

Yoga class once a week for an hour. Thats it.

I'm a dog walker so I walk for 5-6 hours a day, Monday to Friday.

It's not as much as it sounds though because if the dogs are off lead, I'm not doing much of walking and if they're on lead, it's often slow, sniffy walking so again, not much effort.

I average around 18-20k steps a day from work and I also ride once a week - sometimes twice but I can't really afford that very often

I run a marathon daily & work f/t.

That's the stock mn post to these threads!

When you say you're worried it won't be enough and talk about feeling a difference - what exactly do you want to achieve?

I think the who guidelines are a great starting point. For me, anything above that it about enjoyment or trying to reach a specific goal. I run around 4-5 hours a week at the moment and do a couple of hours in the gym.

I don't really like the gym but feel some strength work is essential. I enjoy running so do loads of that.

I don't really feel fit because I'm always pushing myself so all my runs and gym sessions are hard. I feel tired and lethargic if I give myself a week off though, I feel much better mentally and in terms of energy for exercising.

When I was very fit & had time (pre dc) I used to walk everywhere & a lot. 1 x yoga per wk, 2 x weights based & 3 x cardio. That was plenty.

When i said that it is really starting to show.... the other day I felt a bump on my upper arm and got worried about it- until I realiused it was a muscle!

Fitbit says 800-900 active minutes.
So that's up to 15 hours? Including every 11 minute brisk walk, etc.
I'm sure I'm wildly not representative. Probably top 2%. Only top 35% if I were Dutch.
I imagine average is about 2.5 hrs/week, and I imagine that 25% people do < 1 hour/week.
I googled, can't find real numbers on active numbers by age, esp. not for ppl my age.

Did find this chart though; I think it's important. I still maintain that cooking, cleaning, DIY & gardening are as much exercise as yoga or Pilates, etc.

This thread is great. I don't exercise at all but would like to start getting a bit fitter. According to my Fitbit I do 8000 steps 2-3 times a week and about 4000 on the other days.

I have two young children and work full time with a commute so am out of the house from 7.30 until 6.30 most days. As soon as I'm home it's dinner and bedtime then washing/ironing/sorting and about 30-60 minutes to myself before collapsing into a heap. I wish I had the time other people had!

Interesting link- thanks @lljkk

What's brilliant about that chart is that it shows women doing about as much (as men) sport & exercise as % of their total PA over life course, just distributed differently by age, AND that if you group housework & DIY, M & F have similar % of those out of their total PA.

I have always wondered about housework- I do a fair bit daily and it is really active. Windows, floors etc. Lifting and moving furniture. Even ironing (which is a relaxation activity for me) is still quite active.

Do you do a home workout or go to a class? I have some kettlebells and would like to start training with them again but unsure where to start with YouTube etc.

Your planned routine looks great op. I do yoga 4-5 times per week, boxfit x 2 sometimes pilates and try to walk/cycle everywhere as much as i can. I do one big 10k + hike a week... With hills. I mostly focus on strength. I find too much cardio exhausting and it doesn't work for my body in terms of toning.

I do spin 3-4 times a week, Pilates 4 times a week, weights 2-3 times a week, yoga once a week and some form of cardio everyday (treadmill, stair stepper or elliptical). I love exercise and the gym and not bothered if anyone believes me or not.

I eat well and have a large appetite but the above keeps my weight in check and at mid forties I'm the fittest and strongest I've ever been.

Yes, the housework, gardening, washing the car all counts. Have a look at Michael Mosley,you can do 12 minutes of HIIT a week. I'm 72, not doing much at the moment. I have both a Cystocele and perianal eczema. Some days I can't even walk! I have a dog,that's around an hour,I live near the beach and South Downs, lots of hills. For about 20 years I have been doing Harley Pasternaks, 25 minutes 5 days a week. Cardio,I have an F bike, weight bench,2 different steppers.

I do spin 3-4 times a week, Pilates 4 times a week, weights 2-3 times a week, yoga once a week and some form of cardio everyday (treadmill, stair stepper or elliptical). I love exercise and the gym and not bothered if anyone believes me or not.

I don't disbelieve you, when I went to gym a lot there a people that spend half the day in there everyday. I just don't understand how people fit in work, dc, family, friends, partner etc when doing that much exercise.

I don't have much time - work full time, have small children. I also get bored of exercise pretty quickly, I couldn't run for an hour for example.
I do 4 x 30 minutes of strength training at home a week and that has made a huge difference. I have muscles and I'm much fitter.

I work Full-time with 2 DS and I try to do 2 x Hiit Sessions and 2 x Strength Sessions at home. I also play football on a Wednesday and then Futsal on a Saturday. Some weeks I only achieve the football and Futsal, Some weeks I achieve none due to life getting in the way.

I walk to and from work, which is about an hour each way and quite hilly at points. I usually get 20k steps a day and about 120 active minutes on Fitbit. Pretty much sedentary while at work though.

I go to the gym once a week and have just started doing weights. I keep trying to go twice, but never seem to find the time. Occasionally swim once a week too (on the same day as the gym). I love going for long country walks, and hopefully will start doing it more as the weather improves.

I am overweight, but the daily walking makes me feel strong and happy. My plan is to do more gym workouts, maybe do a bit of weights from home.