I'm going to set make two suggestions for the two different groups of people that tend to read this. One for those of you who are very active, are athletes, or training consistently. Then one for those of you that follow my blog who are non-athletes, or don not do much intentional aerobic exercise.
For the "non-athletes"
Daily exercise is essential to health and wellness. The human body is built to move and you should be doing everything in your power to move your body as much as possible. This means getting up from your seat to walk at every opportunity you get. As well as moving as much as you can, you should be included intentional aerobic exercise every day for 30 minutes or more.
Aerobic exercise is activity where you are not so out of breath that you are unable to talk but of an intensity that you are challenged, sweating and feel challenged. Don’t be afraid to feel uncomfortable, your muscles will ache, you will be breathing harder but when you’re done you will feel better for the activity.
So here’s you challenge, complete a minimum of 15 minutes intentional exercise every day, ideally aiming for 30 minutes. You could swim, ride a bike, go for a run (or alternate walking and running if you’re not yet able to run for 15 – 30 minutes), you could take an exercise class or you could get outside and play a game with your children. You need to feel challenged by this though; it should feel a little uncomfortable. Push yourself to raise your heart rate and begin to improve your fitness.
For the athletes
Add in some form of cross training. You should be taking a rest day at least once a week. This does not mean that you need to do nothing. Your rest day is a perfect opportunity to injury proof yourself with another activity that will help to improve balance, flexibility or strength.
Non-triathletes, go for a swim or take a yoga class! Triathletes, take a yoga or Pilates class. Any athlete is going to benefit from strength training. If you're not doing it already, add it!