More than 6 out of 10 adults in Northern Ireland are overweight or obese – physical activity will help you manage your weight over the long term and avoid the health risks associated with excess weight.

How much activity do I need?

That depends on what you want to achieve. If your aim is to get super-fit and run the Belfast marathon, then obviously you’ll need to work pretty hard at it, but if you simply want to benefit your health and reduce your risk of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, a relatively modest amount of activity can offer major benefits.

To maintain good health

For good health, you need a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week (at least 5 days). You don’t have to do it all at once, it could be three sessions of 10 minutes or two of 15 minutes. So that could be a brisk 10 minute walk to and from work plus another 10 minute walk in your lunch break, or maybe a 15 minute walk to the shops and 15 minutes of enthusiastic vacuuming!

To lose weight

If you are trying to lose weight (or to keep the pounds off once you’ve lost them) you may need to do more than this – 60 to 90 minutes is recommended here. Again, it doesn’t have to be all in one go.

First, find out whether you really need to lose weight, and if so how much, with our handy Body Mass Index calculator. Then, check out how many extra calories you can burn up doing different types of activity with the calorie expenditure calculator.