Where

Type of Activity

Comments

Home

Local area

Walking to, and around local parks

Your local councils and government appreciate the importance of physical activity. Many parks will have walking tracks and associated exercise equipment. Use a circuit approach and intersperse walking laps with a couple of the exercises on the equipment. This is free and fun.

Walking around your neighbourhood

Walk with friends, your dog, your baby in the pram or with your kids. Start by walking around the block, then building up as you get better.

Home Fitness equipment

Home fitness equipment is great to add flexibility to your activity plan and does not tie you to a fitness centre.

Fit balls

Fit balls are cheap and easy to use. Have them in the family room near your television, so you can do some simple activities that can give your whole body a workout while getting your daily TV fix.

Hand weights

Hand weights are great activities to strengthen your upper body and are reasonably inexpensive. They can be used with the fit ball and is another activity you can do while getting your TV time.

Treadmills/bikes/Cross-trainers

These are great pieces of equipment to increase your physical activity for those who can afford them. You can walk, run or ride while watching TV. They are great for setting goals and running family challenges. You can be active at any time of day in any weather.

Community facilities

Local Recreation Centre

Another way your local councils and government appreciate the importance of physical activity is the provision of pools and fitness centres. They may be operated by private businesses and activities will incur a small cost for participation.

Pool Activities

• Swimming laps
• Water running/walking
• Aqua-aerobics classes

Pool activities are great fun even for those who can’t swim. Pools are not just for lap swimming, lanes are often allocated for walking and running. A group class of aqua-aerobics is also a great activity even if you can’t swim. Remember pools often have quiet times during the day and later in the evening. Pools often have learn to swim programs for adults, which is another great activity and goal for getting active.

Fitness centre

• Group activities

1. Boxing
2. Pump
3. Aerobics
4. Cycle/spin classes

Fitness centres can be intimidating places but don’t forget some centres can be women only facilities.

Group classes are great fun and you can meet new people or encourage friends to join with you.

• Individual activities

1. Structured aerobic session
2. Structured weight training

Individual activities in a fitness centre can be fun when you have a structured program which can be supervised. This can be an intimidating environment for some people but this can be overcome by planning your sessions to coincide with quiet times, training with friends or choosing a women only facility.

• Social team sports

1. Netball
2. Soccer
3. Cricket
4. Basketball
5. Rugby
6. AFL

Don’t forget about the fun to had by getting involved a social sports team. Team sport activity is a great way to get both moderate and vigorous activity in one session. Social teams often have practice and matches at times that suit women at all phases in their life.

At work

Workplace fitness challenges

• 10 000 steps
• Global corporate challenge

Many work places are seeing the advantage of keeping their employees fit and healthy. So take advantage of any work facilities or special offers to get active.

Many workplaces look for volunteers to get involved in these simple walking challenges and often you will end up with free pedometers and exercise equipment. Remember you don’t have to win these challenges but just get involved to gain the many benefits of physical activity. You could get a small group of your work colleagues together for lunch time walks with mini-challenges to make these activities even more fun and beneficial.