6 Minute English / Exercise for the lazy

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Sam. Did you make any New Year s resolutions this year, Neil? They re promises that you make to yourself to do something positive in the coming year And now that we re into February, it s getting harder to keep those promises!

Yes, the same promises I make every year, Sam to exercise more and get fit. But I m too lazy to go running on cold winter mornings - I d rather stay in bed!

Are you feeling out of shape after Christmas, like Neil? Maybe you want to be more active but can t find the time? If so, this programme is for you!

Yes, in this lazy person s guide to exercise, we ll be asking: what is the least amount of exercise someone can get away with doing whilst still staying healthy? And, of course, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Of course, any exercise is better than none. Structured exercise - activities like going to a fitness class, or swimming are great. But if that s not possible, we ll be hearing about small changes you can make that will help as well.

Which is good news because fewer and fewer of us of doing what the UK government recommends - thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day. In fact, the government recently downgraded its recommendations because so few Brits were following it. So, Sam, according to new government advice, what is the minimum number of steps we should walk every day to stay healthy? Is it:

a) five thousand steps?b) ten thousand steps? or,c) twenty thousand steps?

I ll say a) five thousand steps per day.