How Much to Move

Two friends walk to school together, chatting all the way. A third runs for the bus and can only gasp "wait... for... me". All three are moving, but not equally hard. How hard, and how much, should a body move?

Myth or fact? No pain, no gain: exercise only works if it hurts.

How hard: the talk test

In moderate activity you breathe faster and your heart beats faster, but you can still talk. In vigorous activity you breathe hard and fast.

The easiest way to tell them apart is the talk test.¹ If you can talk but not sing, the activity is moderate: brisk walking, cycling slowly, dancing, or heavy work in the garden. If you can't say more than a few words without stopping for a breath, it is vigorous: running, fast cycling, skipping with a rope, swimming lengths. And if you can easily sing, the activity is light, like a slow stroll. Light activity is still better than sitting still.²

Three people side by side. The first strolls slowly and sings, which is light activity. The second walks briskly and talks, which is moderate. The third runs and can only gasp a word or two, which is vigorous.

How much: WHO's guidelines

In 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) set out how much activity each age needs.²

Age	Aerobic activity (heart and breathing faster)	Making muscles work hard
5 to 17	an average of 60 minutes a day, moderate to vigorous; vigorous on at least 3 days a week	at least 3 days a week, for muscles and bones
18 to 64	150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous, or a mix	at least 2 days a week, working all the main muscles
65 and over	the same as other adults	the same, plus balance and strength activities on at least 3 days a week, to help prevent falls

Vigorous activity counts double, so 75 minutes of running does about as much as 150 minutes of brisk walking. 150 minutes is 30 minutes on 5 days. The same guidelines also say to sit less (see Sitting Too Long), and they apply to people living with a disability too, with activity suited to each person's body and health.²

Short pieces count

The old guidelines, from 2010, counted only activity done for at least 10 minutes at a time. In 2020 WHO dropped that rule: bouts of any length now count.² Five minutes on the stairs and a quick walk to the shop all add up.

A bar chart of one week of moderate activity. Each day's bar is made of short pieces, such as a walk to work and a walk home, and the seven days add up to 150 minutes.

No pain, no gain?

Show the answer

Myth. Moderate activity, the kind where you can still talk, counts in full in WHO's guidelines. You don't have to be out of breath, and it shouldn't hurt. Pain is not a sign it's working: the NHS says to stop the exercise at once if you feel any pain or feel unwell.³ If you are starting from little, start small and build up slowly.²

What you can do

Try the talk test on your next walk: can you chat but not sing?
Add up your week, short pieces included, and compare it with your age's amount.
If you are far from it, add a little at a time.

Words to know

moderate activity - activity that makes you breathe faster, but you can still talk
vigorous activity - activity so hard you can only say a few words before taking a breath
talk test - checking how hard you are working by whether you can talk, or even sing, while you move

Big idea

Adults need about 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, young people an hour a day on average, and every minute counts, however short the piece.

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Measuring Physical Activity Intensity. ↩
Fiona Bull and others, World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2020). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
NHS, How to warm up before exercising. ↩