Questions about physical activity

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What are the current recommendations for physical activity in the UK?

It is recommended that we aim to achieve 10,000 steps per day, or undertake 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, most days of the week (about 150 minutes per week). If you wish to undertake high-intensity/vigorous activity instead, the recommendations for this are 75 minutes per week. We are also recommended to take part in some resistance or strength training every week to maintain muscle mass. Whilst these may not seem realistic to some individuals, the key message to take away is that just being more physically active than we currently are will likely benefit our health!

To help manage blood glucose, is it best to take part in physical activity before or after meals?

It probably depends on the person, and we would encourage people to experiment to find out what they can do and what works for them. This clinical trial concluded that blood glucose levels were significantly better when people walked for 10 minutes after breakfast, lunch and evening meal compared to people who weren’t given specific instructions of when to walk. There is evidence though that insulin sensitivity improves for at least 16 hours post exercise, suggesting that it wouldn’t matter if the physical activity was before or after meals!

Therefore, like many things, more research is needed; but if people are able to do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensive physical activity on a daily basis then it certainly can’t do harm!

THE FAQ FORUM IS “READ-ONLY”, SO YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ADD COMMENTS TO THIS THREAD. IF YOU HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS ANYTHING RELATED TO WHAT YOU HAVE READ HERE THEN PLEASE RETURN TO THE MAIN FORUM