This February is National Heart Month, so there’s no better time to get active and help improve your fitness, and it doesn’t have to involve running a marathon!

We’ve all heard the advice about doing 30 minutes exercise five or more times a week – but with a busy life it’s not always easy to fit it in. However it really can be very simple to make small changes to your normal routine.

Here are a few things you can try to get you started:

• Try walking around the classroom.
• Walk or cycle all or part of the way to work. If you find that you have lots of paperwork to carry, perhaps consider working in the classroom afterwork on one or two days so that you can leave the paperwork at school.
• Take the stairs – whether atwork or in the shopping centre, try to walk rather than take the lift.
• If your own children take part in sports why not join in? If you would be supervising them anyway you could take a football to the park and play together. If you are waiting for your children to do an activity, think about doing something at the same time for example swim yourself if they have a swimming lesson.
• Arrange to meet a friend to do exercise together. If there is a definite arrangement where you would otherwise let someone down, you are more likely to stick to it.
• Put time in your diary to exercise. Putting aside time means that it will be easier to ensure that your time is safeguarded.
• Don’t give up. Any exercise is better than none, so if you cannot manage five times a week, don’t give up the whole project – each activity will count towards feeling more fit and healthy.

You might also find the following factsheets useful:

• Benefits of walking
• Travelling to work safely: walking & cycling
• What is heart disease