Featured Report

Healthy Exercise for All Campaigns

Exercise helps to improve physical fitness and relax the body and mind. All men and women can find a suitable sport for themselves regardless of their age. Exercise doesn’t have to be done in fixed locations and exercising for at least 30 minutes a day is already enough to improve your physical health.

Exercise and health

Different types of exercise have different effects. In general, exercise strengthens heart and lung function, promotes blood circulation, and reduces the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and some cancers (e.g. colorectal cancer). Doing more exercise will help you burn more calories and maintain a healthy body weight. It will also strengthen your muscles and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Even simple exercises can increase joint flexibility and delay aging. In addition, exercise can relieve tension and increase self-confidence. Exercise that is done in groups can also help to broaden your friend circle. These are all benefits of exercise.

Things to know before exercising

Remember to warm up sufficiently before exercising. Replenish water from time to time while exercising and keep an eye out on your body’s condition: if you are sweating and have a faster heartbeat, that means you are at an average level of exercise intensity; if you feel tired, you should gradually reduce the exercise intensity or else you may injure your muscles or joints; if you feel pain or discomfort, stop exercise immediately and get some rest.

It isn’t necessary to exercise for overly long periods of time as 30 minutes of exercise a day is already great for the body and mind. The most important thing is to persevere and exercise appropriately based on your own health conditions without forcing yourself. Those who suffer from cardiovascular disease, diabetes or other chronic conditions should consult their doctor before exercising. It might not be suitable for people with acute conditions to exercise, so they should wait until they have recovered before starting.

Move more everyday and create a healthy lifestyle

The LCSD and the Department of Health launched the “Healthy Exercise for All Campaign” with the slogan “Daily exercise keeps us fit, people of all ages can do it” in 2000 to promote exercise for people of all ages in our community (including schools, communities, families and individuals). The objective of this campaign is to raise the public’s interest in exercising, help them understand the benefits of exercising to health and encourage them to exercise to establish a healthy lifestyle.

Dance Sport Performance

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Department of Health have cooperated with affiliated sports associations, professional bodies and schools to organize a variety of large-scale promotion campaigns, including the Water Carnival, the Indoor Sports Carnival, the Dance Extravaganza, Brisk walking, the Autumn Hiking Fun Day, the Active Living Charter, and My Exercise Diary etc., in which local virtuosos and top athletes from the mainland took part in the Roving Sports Demonstrations including Table Tennis, Wushu, Badminton, Basketball, Dancesport, Rope Skipping and Gymnastics. These activities were well received by the public. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department invited 24 outstanding athletes to promote the event as sports ambassadors.

To promote habitual exercise, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department also organized various recreational and sports activities throughout the 18 districts, including fitness programmes tailored for children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, the Hiking Scheme, QualiWalk Scheme, Dance for Health and Rope Skipping for Fun etc, to facilitate participation in the neighborhood. These activities are focused on self-practice to establish individual exercise habits and were earnestly received by the public. This was reflected in the increasing number of participants, and also proved that the government’s efforts to promote community-wide participation in sports had begun to take effect.

Kick Boxing Aerobic

Gymnastics Fun Day

Recently, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department enhanced the content of the “Healthy Exercise for All Campaign” website with the launch of 7 games in "Interactive Games", such as "Rope Skipping for Fun", "Infinite Fun with Shuttlecock Kicking", "I want to be more active", "Do I have big Tummy?", and "Calorie Restaurant". 9 newly produced tutorial clips for exercise were also uploaded to "Virtual Class for Healthy Exercise" to advocate a dynamic and healthy lifestyle that encouraged daily habitual exercise, regardless of location, age and job nature. The “Interactive Route Map” feature can be found in the “Hiking Scheme” Page, and it provides route information and a preview of sceneries for hikers to make proper route choices when planning. For those who are interested, please visit the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s website www.lcsd.gov.hk/healthy/b5 or call the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s (LCSD) 24-hour customer hotline at 2414 5555 to make an enquiry.