Getting Active

Healthy Eating | Getting Active | Tobacco Free

Make your move to getting active

Regular physical activity:

Lowers your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and vascular dementia
Can also improve your health by treating and preventing chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer

It’s important to make physical activity part of your everyday routine. Start slowly by adding activities you enjoy into your life.

Aerobic activities work your heart and lungs (e.g., walking, cycling, and swimming).

Try to work at a moderate to vigorous intensity: This means that you’ll sweat lightly and breathe faster and deeper.

Child /Teen – Work up to at least 60 minutes of aerobic activity daily
Adult – Work up to at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity weekly. You can do this in bouts of activity as short as 10 minutes at a time.

See More

A specific ‘Prescription To Get Active’ program which focuses only on physical activity exists in some communities in Alberta.

Visit Prescription To Get Active to learn more about this program.

Benefits

There are numerous benefits to an active and healthy lifestyle

Guidelines

The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines provide the recommended amount and types of physical activity needed to experience significant, positive changes in your health

Getting Started

It can be difficult to start and stick with moving more and sitting less

Planning and Goal Setting

Coming up with a plan and setting goals can help you start and stick with a physical activity schedule. Define your SMART goals and develop a physical activity plan.

Tracking Your Activity

Recording you physical activity is a great way to keep your motivation up and notice improvements to your health.

There are often free apps available on your smart phone that allows you to easily track your activity throughout the day. Search “activity tracker” in your phone’s app store to find an app that works for you.

For those who like to track their activity on paper, check out UWalk’s Activity Log.

Walking

Walking is one of the easiest ways to be active. You can walk for fun, for your health and to help get to work, school or doing errands. The more walking you can fit into your day, the better!

UWalk is an Alberta resource that provides information and tools on the benefits of walking, tracking your steps, participating in walking challenges, and much more.