Is this enough exercise?

[Isabella40]

I am 51 and work full time in a school so on my feet all day hardly sit down.

I do 3 sessions of aqua aerobics in 10 days - 45 mins each session.

Is this enough exercise?

I bet you walk over 10K steps a day!

The issue with school working is snacking to keep you going.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/

Aqua aerobics is good cardio, and does do a bit for your core and resistance for your arms, but it isn't weight bearing for all over strength and maximising muscle and bone density, and being a woman in her 50s, it's use it or lose it.

Working in a school tends to be gentle plodding and draining on energy, but not really energetic enough to be exercise. Gentle movement is better than being sedentary in a chair, but it's not effective enough for good fitness.

Exercise is different for everyone. It’s not possible to answer is this enough because we can’t see your state of health, if you are very healthy and naturally blessed with genetics that mean you do not need to work out much then it might be ok.

For me it’s not enough exercise because I have an easy tendency to gain weight and exercise really helps me manage this, plus I am not naturally fit, and did not prioritise fitness in my youth so I need to put in a lot of work now to improve my cardiovascular health. I did not find this kind of aerobics did much for me apart from mobility (but may have been the teacher) to get my heart rate up for long so I switched to other stuff, but I find that the issue is that aqua never gets harder, once your fitness levels improve to a point you just stay at the same level because you do not use more weights or increase the intensity of the exercise progressively

I definitely don’t plod around. I do a lot of running around 🤣

I used to run round too!

Sports classes we’d join in to help those gain access - kids in distress we’d take for a walk round the play ground or play a running game to burn their energy -

Run to the next class if someone needed help!

The only time we sat down was in assembly!

You could try replacing two of the aqua aerobics classes with something else. A strength based class and spin would be good alternatives.

That wouldn't be enough for me, but we are all different I guess. Aqua aerobics is quite an easy and gentle exercise, I don't think I would get much benefit from that being my only exercise. At our age, we really need to include strength/weights. For comparison, I am only just over a year younger than you and do;
At least 90 minutes a day brisk walking (do long hikes and mountains in the summer)
2x 60 minute swims per week
2x45 minute body pump (Increasing weights when I can)
1x 45 minute athletic pilates class
1x45 minute reformer class.

Edited to say, this is each week, not over a 10 day period

I get running around if I'm "on call" but classrooms are quite ploddy.

I always find the amount of "active calories" disappointing compared to my step count on my watch 😂

you need some weights, aqua aerobics is not enough to preserve the muscle mass we are naturally losing as we age.

I'm a teacher so on my feet all day. Much better to be stood up, walking around, running around even than do an office job but it isn't intensive enough to be classed as exercise in my opinion. Each week I do 5 x 45 minute reformer pilates classes, 2 x 30 minutes runs, 4 x 90 minutes fast walk across hilly moorland walking the dog (husband and dog walker do other walks). We have just had a gym built at home so I'm going to add rowing and cross trainer to my weekly exercise. I'm also thinking about more muscle building/strength training exercise but I'm not sure what yet.

Though I'd say exercise must be enjoyable, first and foremost. So if you really enjoy aqua 3 x a week and you find you go 3 x a week because you like it, and weights and spin would make you lose the will to live, then keep doing the aqua!

Also like anything, it depends how hard you work at it.

No it’s not enough, you need to do proper weight lifting exercises for bone health two or three times a week. .

My weekly plan ..

Weights at the gym x 3
pilates x 1
running x 2

plus a daily 7-13k steps