Regular exercise when we are young contributes to healthy development of our musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system and neuromuscular awareness.

To obtain these benefits from exercise, it’s important to know what ‘regular exercise’ really means.

It is recommended that people aged five to 17 years old accumulate at least 60 minutes of exercise daily. This could mean doing 60 mins of exercise at one time or two 30 minute bouts of exercise over the day. Most of the exercise should be aerobic, however, strengthening exercises should incorporated at least three times per week.

The exercise intensity level should be moderate to vigorous, which can be monitored by your perceived exertion or using your heart rate. To use heart rate to measure intensity, you need to calculate your maximum heart rate by using the formula, 220 – age. To be exercising at a moderate intensity your heart rate should be 50 to 70% of your heart rate max and for vigorous intensity, 70 to 85%.