The 15 minute challenge:

Here’s some ideas …

Easy beginner level:

A brisk walk, pump your arms and increase your tempo.

15 minutes of vigorous gardening - raking, digging, lifting and carrying (careful with your back!) - enough to get the muscles moving and the heart pumping.

Cycling, paddling, rowing, swimming - moving your body and your joints - good for mobility and the health of your skeleton.

Stretching: ease into it, and choose 5 dynamic exercises where you alternate positions frequently and hold the stretch only briefly, within your limits. Move in different directions and patterns - forward, back, to the side, diagonally, with rotation. Perform each stretch for 30 seconds on each side, and repeat each exercise a total of 3 times.

Jogging: start with 5 minutes brisk walking as a warm-up. Then alternate between 30 seconds of jogging (at your own speed), with 30 seconds of brisk walking, for 10 minutes.

Strength training: Choose 5 simple exercises that you are familiar with and perform each for 5-10 repetitions, and then rest for the remainder of the minute. Repeat until you’ve done 3 minutes of each exercise. Examples: squats, push-ups (from the knees), side bends, lunges, hip lifts.

Intermediate level:

Aerobic activities: running, riding, rowing, paddling, swimming, etc. Warm-up with 5 minutes at an easy to moderate pace. Then perform 10 minutes of “fartlek” intervals - 30 seconds at a challenging pace, 30 seconds at an easy pace.

Strength training: Warm-up with 5 minutes of exercises, alternating frequently to avoid fatigue. Then choose 5 exercises, doing 2 minutes per exercise: perform 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, alternating sides where possible.

Stretching: Perform 5 minutes of dynamic exercises to ease the body into being more flexible. Choose 5 stretches (varying directions and movement patterns) - hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds, and repeat until 2 minutes of stretching has been performed with each exercise.

Advanced Level: (feel free to do more than 15 mins.)

Aerobic activities: running, riding, rowing, paddling, swimming, etc. Warm-up with 5 minutes at an easy to moderate pace. Then perform 10 minutes of “fartlek” intervals - 20 seconds at a fast pace, 40 seconds at an easy-moderate pace. For more challenge add extra resistance - for example, uphill running/cycling, etc.

Strength training: Warm-up with 5 minutes of exercises, alternating frequently to avoid fatigue. Then choose 5 exercises, doing 2 minutes per exercise: perform 45 seconds work, 15 seconds rest, alternating sides where possible. Choose challenging exercises, such as burpees, mountain climbers, squat jumps, chin-ups, etc. If body weight alone is not challenging enough, add extra resistance.

Stretching: Perform 5 minutes of dynamic exercises to ease the body into being more flexible. Choose 5 stretches (varying directions and movement patterns) - hold each stretch for 60-120 seconds, and repeat until 2 minutes of stretching has been performed with each exercise.