Specific Physical Activity and Exercise Recommendations in CF
It is generally recommended that individuals with CF follow the same physical activity guidelines as the general population guidelines. The current Australian Government recommendations for physical activity are appropriate. There are also published physical activity and exercise recommendations for cystic fibrosis. Both pieces of information have been included below.
Babies (birth to 1 year)
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- Encourage your baby to have time on the mat or the floor in a safe environment and supervised
- If you baby is not yet moving around also try and encourage some time on their tummy
- Encourage activities on the floor so your baby starts to reach for things, tries to hold onto toys, pushes and pulls
Toddlers (1 to 2 years of age)
- Try to spend at least 180 minutes in the day doing lots of different physical activities, these might be walking, pushing a toy, running, jumping, twirling, bouncing.
Pre-schoolers (3 to 5 years of age)
- Try to spend at least 180 minutes doing physical activities like running, jumping, star jumps, trampoline, skipping, hopping, throwing a ball, tapping a balloon, swimming.
- Try to make sure 60 minutes of this activity is more energetic, this may be dancing, swimming, trampoline time
Children and adolescents (5-17 years of age)
- Children this age should be doing 60 minutes of energetic activities, including some vigorous activities like running, jumping, sports like basketball, netball, tennis, swimming
- Children of this age, should also do exercises that help to strengthen muscle and bone, at least 3 times a week
- Children should be active, moving, several hours per day
Adults (18 to 64 years of age)
- Doing any physical activity is better than doing none. If you currently do no physical activity, start by doing some, and gradually build up to the recommended amount.
- Be active on most days of the week.
- Aim for 150 to 300 minutes (2 ½ to 5 hours) of moderate intensity physical activity a week or
- 75 to 150 minutes (1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours) of more intense physical activity each week.
- Aim for muscle strengthening activities on at least 2 days each week.
