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Physical Exercise Guidelines
Reducing sedentary behaviour and participating in physical activity are essential to health, development and psychosocial wellbeing. Physical activity helps to achieve and maintain a healthy body, allows development of bone strength and muscle control, as well as brain development, balance and coordination. These guidelines should be adapted to your ability and are designed around able bodied young people. Disabilities, illness or injuries that impact your capacity to engage in the recommendations should be discussed with your Doctor, Physiotherapist and or Occupational Therapist to design physical exercise plans that work for your body specifically.
Note: Physical activity is for yourself, and your wellbeing! It does not have to be competitive nor do you have to be good at it!
Guidelines:
Accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day, involving mainly aerobic activities at least 3 days per week
Several hours of light physical activities, Incorporate vigorous activities at least 3 days per week.
No more than 120 minutes of recreational screen use per day
Break up long periods of sitting as often as possible
Muscle and bone strengthening activities at least 3 times a week
Examples
Basketball, soccer, netball, lap swimming, skipping or running are all great ways to add more vigorous activity to a day. They don’t have to be organised, paid activities— they can be as simple as grabbing a ball or a friend and running around at the park. Anything that makes you ‘huff and puff’ counts!
Add to the daily total with moderate-intensity activities such as bike riding, scootering or skateboarding. Swap a drive to the local shops or library with a bike or scooter ride.
Examples of light activities include leisurely walking or playing handball. Walking your dog or to school is a great way to increase light activity. Some activity is better than none.
Great options to strengthen muscles and bones include skipping, running, yoga, jumping, push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights, lunges, squats, climbing trees or swinging on monkey bars.
Exercise and Mental Health
Regular exercise can increase levels of serotonin in the brain, a neurotransmitter involved in regulating mood, sleep, appetite and other functions. Exercise can also increase the level of endorphins in the brain which have ‘mood-lifting’ properties. As well as:
Improving sleep
Increasing levels of energy
Distracting from worries and rumination
Improving social connection and reducing
loneliness if exercising with other people
Increasing self-efficacy through taking positive action towards
their own well-being
The Black Dog Institute has identified several studies that reported on the benefits of exercise in managing depression. These studies have showed that:
People who exercise regularly experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who do not exercise regularly.
Regular exercise of moderate intensity can be an effective adjunctive treatment by itself for both melancholic and nonmelancholic depression.
Sixteen weeks of regular exercise has been found to be equally effective as antidepressant medication in the treatment of mild to moderate depression.
Both aerobic exercise (e.g. brisk walking, cycling or jogging) and resistance or strength training (e.g. weight-lifting) have been found to be helpful in treating depression.
Exercise has positive short-term effects on self-esteem in children and young people.
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