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Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

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BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

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And I’m Sam. Did you make any New Year’s

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resolutions this year, Neil? They’re promises

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that you make to yourself to do something

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positive in the coming year… And now that

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we’re into February, it’s getting harder

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to keep those promises!

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Yes, the same promises I make every year,

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Sam – to exercise more and get fit. But

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I’m too lazy to go running on cold winter

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mornings - I’d rather stay in bed!

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Are you feeling out of shape after

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Christmas, like Neil? Maybe you want to

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be more active but can’t find the time?

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If so, this programme is for you!

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Yes, in this lazy person’s guide to

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exercise, we’ll be asking: what is the least

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amount of exercise someone can get away

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with doing whilst still staying healthy?

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And, of course, we’ll be learning some

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useful new vocabulary as well.

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Of course, any exercise is better than

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none. ‘Structured exercise’ - activities like

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going to a fitness class, or swimming are

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great. But if that’s not possible, we’ll be

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hearing about small changes you can

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make that will help as well.

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Which is good news because fewer and

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fewer of us of doing what the UK

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government recommends - thirty minutes

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of moderate exercise a day. In fact, the

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government recently downgraded its

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recommendations because so few Brits

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were following it. So, Sam, according to

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new government advice, what is the

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minimum number of steps we should walk

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every day to stay healthy? Is it:

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a) five thousand steps?

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b) ten thousand steps? or,

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c) twenty thousand steps?

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I’ll say a) five thousand steps per day.

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OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer at the

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end of the programme. Someone else

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who’s interested in how little exercise he

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can do is BBC reporter, James Gallagher.

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Here’s James speaking with sports

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physiologist, Dr Zoe Saynor, after Zoe had

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been monitoring James’s fitness while running

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on a treadmill for BBC Radio 4

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programme, Inside Science.

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… I also know you do regularly try

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and do structured exercise.

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Just to be clear, my structured exercise

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training is going for a swim once a week.

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Generally, that's fantastic! I guess my

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question to you would be, how hard

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do you push yourself when

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you go swimming?

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Not as hard as the treadmill.

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I think the big thing if we come back

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to this question of what is the least

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I can do? There's clear evidence that if

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you want to do shorter exercise

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sessions, they need to be

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of a higher intensity, right?

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So there's a trade-off.

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Zoe says that if you don’t have much

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time to exercise it’s okay to do shorter

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sessions, as long as you push yourself –

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try harder and put more effort into what

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you’re doing. If you can swim a length in

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forty seconds, push yourself

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to swim it in thirty-five.

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That means exercising harder of course,

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but for a shorter time. In other words,

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there’s a trade-off – you accept the

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disadvantages of something in order

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to get the benefit it brings.

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Another problem for many people is that

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their job is sedentary – it involves little

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exercise or physical activity. Zoe thinks

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it’s important that office workers who

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sit down all day also find time to exercise.

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Here she shares her tips with BBC Radio 4

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programme, Inside Health.

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Especially people who have office jobs are

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sat down all day, we then look at some

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of the easy wins. So, active travel, and

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even if that's parking a little bit further

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away. One of the exciting areas in the

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literature that's coming out at the

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moment, is actually walking faster.

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So, if you have no time to suddenly

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do 10,000 steps a day, can we get

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you to do 5,000 steps faster? Will we

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see an improvement on your health?

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Yes, we will see an improvement on

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your health, especially over a longer

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period of time. The big focus around short,

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sharp exercise sessions is you

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get more bang for your buck.

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Zoe’s suggestions for active travel,

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things like walking from the car, and

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using the stairs instead of the lift,

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are easy wins - tasks that are both easy

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to accomplish and bring benefits.

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Easy wins, like short but intensive

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bursts of exercise, increase fitness and

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give you more bang for your buck,

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and idiom which means that you get

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better results for the same amount of

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effort you put in. That’s something

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everyone can appreciate – even you, Neil.

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Well, I’ll definitely try to walk more,

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but remember, Sam, the

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body needs rest too!

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And speaking of walking, isn’t it time

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to reveal the answer to your question:

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how many steps does the UK

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government recommend we should

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walk a day? I guessed it was five

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thousand… So, was I right?

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You were close, Sam, but in fact

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the correct answer is ten thousand

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steps a day, although as Zoe mentioned,

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walking fewer steps faster has

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benefits too. OK, let’s recap the

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vocabulary we’ve learned from our

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lazy guide to exercise, starting with

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New Year’s resolution – a promise you

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make to yourself to do positive

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things in the coming year.

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When you push yourself, you put more

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effort into what you’re doing.

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In a trade-off, you accept the

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disadvantages of something in order

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to get the benefits as well. ‘Trade-off’

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can also be used as a verb.

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The adjective, sedentary, describes

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something which involves little

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exercise or physical activity.

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An easy win is a task that is both

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easy to accomplish and

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brings positive results.

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And finally, the idiom more bang

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for your buck, means you get

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a better outcome for the same

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amount of effort you put into

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something. We hope your New Year’s

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resolutions have made it into February!

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If there’s just one you keep, make

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it joining us again soon for more

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topical chat here at 6 Minute English.

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Bye for now!

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Bye!