Sufficient exercise is crucial for a healthy life. It is beneficial for your body and for your mind, no matter what age you are.
Many students spend most of their day – on average more than 8 hours – sitting down. Men sit still slightly more than women: 8.7 hours per day, compared to 8.1 hours. When you sit still for a long time, your muscles go into sleep mode. This means that metabolic processes no longer work as they should, fat breakdown is slowed down and concentration is reduced. Exercise is therefore good for your physical and mental health.
Exercise has many benefits. For example, it is good for:
In addition to these benefits, sufficient exercise also reduces the risk of diseases such as cancer, dementia, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
The WHO's recommendations for physical activity indicate how much you should exercise in order to be healthy. According to these recommendations, it is best to exercise for 150 to 300 minutes at moderate intensity or 75 to 150 minutes at high intensity, spread over the whole week, or a combination of both: for example, walking, cycling an e-bike or wheelchair riding at a good pace for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week (moderate intensity), or 25 minutes of running, cycling or wheelchair basketball, 3 days a week (high intensity).
The table below gives you a handy overview.
In a healthy exercise pattern, you alternate between sitting, standing and moving. Make a habit of moving enough. The physical activity triangle helps you determine how long (duration), how often (frequency) and at what intensity you should move.
These tips will make exercise fun and achievable:
Make your personal 'list of excuses': what excuses and reasons do you use not to exercise? But also look for stepping stones: what helps you to take the step to doing exercise? The examples in the table may inspire you.
The online self-help programme Healthy Lifestyle teaches you to build a healthy lifestyle and feel better in your own skin. Fun exercise is central to the programme. Once you have completed it, you will know how to incorporate healthy exercise into your life.
Is exercising just a good intention? Do you encounter the same resistance or excuses time and again? You can ask your GP to refer you to a BOV (Exercise On Referral) coach. These coaches help you to exercise every day and live healthier. More information can be found on Healthy Living. Use the search function to find a BOV coach near you.
You are not alone. Get inspired by other students' stories about vulnerability and doubt. But above all about the power of connectedness.
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