The no-pain way TO GET FITTER

You don't need to train for a marathon or spend hours in the gym – just a few tweaks to your lifestyle can make you healthier

- 

We all know that the more active we stay, the fitter and healthier we feel. The benefits of regular activity are colossal – research shows that it slows the progression of 40 chronic diseases and conditions, and reduces the risk of an early death by disease by 30%*. But less than one in 10 of us (8%) hits the recommended 10,000 steps a day**, and staying active can become more of a challenge as we age. However, it is possible to keep fit and healthy in your later years if you know how to go about it.

When we're younger we can just blast it in the gym and get away with it, but the older we get, the more savvy we need to be about staying active and avoiding injury. Here are some of the tricks you need to know.

Pace yourself

Start slowly and build up gradually to help avoid injury, particularly if you're new to exercise. 'Set yourself mini goals to maintain motivation,' says personal trainer Elyn Marwick. 'Plan to walk a little further or faster each time you step out, or do more repetitions when you're working out. Get on YouTube and find a home exercise video.

'Think about ways to incorporate more activity into your daily routine,' says Elyn. 'Follow low-intensity exercise programmes, such as yoga, while watching TV in the evening, or add small jogs into times when you're walking already.'

'Incidental exercise such as housework, DIY and gardening also brings an added bonus in terms of improving your environment,' says physiotherapist Sammy Margo.

4 GREAT BITS OF KIT

Medicine ball Good for adding extra weight, increasing intensity and forcing the body to work harder, leading to increased strength.

Resistance band