Stronger and Fitter Than Most: What It Takes To Be Above Average Fitness In The UK!

The answer is: not as much as you might think based on current activity levels of people in the UK!

The UK health exercise guidelines for adults 18-64 are:

• Strength Exercises on at least 2 days per week (could be 20-30 Minutes)
• At least 150 Minutes Moderate Activity or 75 Minutes Vigorous Activity Per Week
• Ideally spread your activity so you are doing something every day

Read the full details here.

2020 You Gov Survey Results - How Much Exercise Are People In The UK Doing?

This survey showed that 27% of the population isn't managing a 30 minute exercise session per week.

11% are managing 1 session per week and 13% manage two per week and 12% manage 3 per week.

The survey also showed that only 1 in 12 people in the UK does at least 30 Minutes of exercise per day.

26% of the population are exercising for at least 30 minutes on four or more days per week, with 8% being active daily.

All this to say if you currently are hitting the governments minimum Health Guidelines I would say you are above average fitness level!

How do you go from Zero Minutes - 150 Minutes?

You start slowly and you build up!

Daily Activity (Steps)

I encourage all my clients to have a self imposed step count as a daily non-negotiable. We start from where they are and we build. 

Ideally an average over the week of  7,000 steps, this is enough for health and if people want to do more, then that's great but not necessary from a health outcome perspective.

Structured Exercise

Structured exercise could mean returning to an activity you haven't done for a while, going to a gym, finding an online class and or trying something completely new.

Starting at one activity per week is a great place to begin. Over time you either want to add in more sessions or add in a new activity.

I encourage new/returning exercises to hit their non-negotiable exercise targets easily before they add in more. If you can't do 2 per week, please don't aim for 5, we want you to be doing this for the rest of your life, not just the next 6 weeks.

Moderate Activity (Increased breathing and heart rate plus feeling warmer. Moderate activity is being able to talk but not sing!) to be performed for 150 Minutes Per Week could include some of these types of activities: Aqua Aerobics, Cycling, Dance Classes, Long Walks (relative for you), Aerobic Equipment at the gym like the elliptical/rower etc.

Vigorous Activity (Breathing should be hard and fast, you will not be able to talk more than a few words at a time without pausing to breathe) to be performed for 75 Minutes Per Week could include running, swimming, riding up hills, walking stairs, sports like football and rugby, skipping, aerobics and gymnastics, martial art classes. Aerobic Equipment at the gym like the elliptical/rower etc.

Very Vigorous Activity Exercise performed in short bursts of maximal effort broken up with rest periods. Examples of this type of activity are lifting heavy weights, circuit training, CrossFit/Hyrox, Hill Sprints, Running Up Stairs, Spin Classes.

From All This, Are You Average or Above Average?

I tell my clients all the time that simply by having a Personal Training and building a sustainable exercise plan for them , they are way above the UK average for the amount of exercise they do, let alone what they are actually capable of doing versus others the same age as them!

Let me know how you fare against the guidelines and if you are struggling to get started, shoot me a message and we can have a chat about how I would suggest you get started x