Aerobic or cardio exercise is anything that raises your heart rate - 

The UK's physical activity guidelines suggest that you should aim for either 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise (or 30 minutes five times per week); or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.

It doesn't need to be complicated and it doesn't need to all be in one go. You could do 2 x 15 minute sessions instead of 1 x 30 minute.

Some great examples of moderate cardio exercise:

- Walking briskly;

- Leisurely swim;

- Cycling on flat terrain;

- Dancing (why not try one of the Dance classes on my timetable?);

- PiYo with me on Saturday mornings

If you're short on time 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise will also get you to your guidelines. 

Want some ideas of things to try? How about

- Jogging or running

- Cycling on hilly terrain;or at more than 10 mph; a spinning class

- HIIT class (these are usually 30 mins)

- Step class with me in Monday & Saturday mornings.

Of course, you can do a mix of the two with a rule of thumb that one minute of vigorous exercise is worth two of moderate.

Whichever you choose, do something that you at least vaguely enjoy. Check out the TT here

In addition to your moderate/ vigorous cardio exercise, you're also recommended to do some resistance or strength training at least twice per week and preferably not on consecutive days.

When combined with aerobic exercise, strength training helps to lower bad cholesterol. 

When you have too much bad cholesterol, it lines the walls of your arteries, making it more difficult for your heart to pump blood round your body. 

When the vessels taking blood back to your heart get blocked, this can lead to a heart attack. 

Apart from being great for your heart health, resistance training is also essential to ensure that we maintain muscle mass and bone strength as we age. No muscle mass/ bone strength? It's going to be super hard to do anything physical.

Now, what types of exercise do I know about that could be termed resistance exercise? Hmmm...Let me think...

- Pilates because you're going to be working all of your major muscle groups; Sometimes, you'll use resistance bands, small weights or the magic circle to increase the amount of resistance. You're welcome.

- PiYo so that sneakily, you can hit your cardio AND your strength goals in one class. Winning!

- Weight training and it doesn't need to be lifting actual weights. You can use resistance bands and your own body weight. Ideally, you should be working until you feel it. 

OK, I know I've cheated a bit and put two things in one, but flexibility and balance are both essential if you want to be able to do any of the other things.

At least twice a week, try to get in some balance training. This reduces the likelihood that you'll fall as you age. 

Flexibility training will make it easier to do all the other things and reduce aches and pains.

Some examples of things that you can do that will improve both balance and flexibility:

- Pilates because we work "core stability" which is the heart of our balance; and we work our joints in all the directions ensuring that we're able to move freely through a full range.

- PiYo ...wait, is that a hat trick for this class? We do a lot of things standing on one leg as well as a lot of yoga based exercises.

- Yoga 

- Dancing

- Strength & Stretch where we often work balance and always work flexibility.

And did you know that stretching also improves the elasticity of your blood vessels and may alleviate hardening of the arteries? Read all about it here