• Doing exercise is beneficial to both body and mind. Regular exercise can improve the following health conditions:

  Strengthens cardiopulmonary functions, enhances blood circulation	Expands your social network	Improves the flexibility and suppleness of joints, prevents falls and injuries
  Reduces fat accumulation of fat, maintain ideal weight	Strengthens body's resistance to illness	Trains muscles, strengthens bones, and helps prevent osteoporosis

• The physical fitness of each person is different. When you select an exercise and start training yourself to do the exercise, you should do it according to your own ability and proceed gradually to ensure safety. What amount of exercise is right for you? The "Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale" below is for your reference:

• When designing an exercise plan, you may use the F.I.T.T. formula to draw up your diary:

  	Persons in Good Health Sick Persons or Persons with Weak Physique (Consult the doctor and reduce the amount of exercise as appropriate) Frequency (F) 3 to 5 times weekly Phased over the day, several times daily Intensity (I) Exercises of medium intensity. Approximately 60 - 85% of maximum heart rate*. During the process, you should feel slight perspiration, faster heartbeat and deeper breathing, that is when you are just beginning to perspire or breathe more deeply. Begin from exercises of moderately low intensity (for example, begin from 55% of maximum heart rate) Type (T) Select aerobic activities that exercise the big muscle groups, such as walking, jogging, swimming and dancing. Of course, you should also select according to your interests. Slow and short-distance walking on flat surface Time (T) Youngsters should exercise for 20 minutes or more each time; adults should exercise for 30 minutes or more each time. Exercise can be phased according to physique, with each phase not shorter than 10- 15 minutes. Total of 30 minutes (10-15 minutes each phase), or reduce the amount of exercise or stop exercising when you begin to experience slight discomfort

  *Note: Maximum heart rate equals 220 minus age (for example: the maximum heart rate for a 40-year-old person is 180, that is, 220-40=180)
  
  
• How to Select an Exercise?
  Each person will make different selections according to their age, interests and physique. Regardless of the type of exercise selected, physical fitness can be improved to a certain extent. Physical fitness comprises cardiopulmonary endurance, muscle strength and endurance, suppleness and body composition. When you start to do exercise, you can refer to the information below and select an exercise that suits yourself:

• Select different types of exercise: This can increase variety and prevent strain caused by repetitively doing the same type of exercise.
• Exercise with friends: Mutual encouragement and support maintains interest in exercise.
• Set short-term or periodic goals: Long-term goals will cause you to give up easily. The achievement of periodic goals can heighten your sense of success, boost your confidence and sustain the motivation to continue exercising.
• Reward yourself: When you achieve your goals, give yourself some rewards as encouragement to work towards next goal.
• Tell your friends or family your exercise plan: Friends or family members can support you and monitor your progress.
• Think positively: Maintaining an optimistic attitude as well as imagining that the sense of satisfaction and the feeling of success can help motivate you to move forward.

At home :

• use the remote control less
• do more housework such as cleaning windows, sweeping the floor and wiping off dust with a vacuum cleaner
• use the staircase more and use the lift less
• get up 15 minutes earlier to do simple exercise at home or to go for a walk in a park

In school :

• do regular exercise with classmates such as playing badminton or basketball and swimming
• travelling to and from school on foot instead of by car if the school is within appropriate distance
• do some stretching exercise such as waist bending and hamstring stretch during recess
• participate in more active extra-curricular activities such as joining the boy scouts/girl guides and ball teams

At work :

• arrange more outdoor activities as social functions for staff in the company, e.g. hiking and cycling
• go for a walk after lunch
• have more face-to-face discussions with colleagues on official business and use the telephone less as far as practicable to increase the amount of physical activities
• travelling to and from the company on foot instead of by car if the company is within appropriate distance

At leisure :

• engage in fewer passive activities such as watching TV or playing games on the computer; engage in more outdoor activities such as going on a picnic in the countryside or go hiking to appreciate the beauty of nature and have some fresh air
• select more active leisure activities such as window-shopping, dancing or going to the gym
• do regular exercise with friends such as swimming, running and playing ball games