Aim to be active on most, preferably all, days of the week. Aim for 150 to 300 minutes (2.5–5 hours) of moderate intensity activity or 75 to 150 minutes (1.25–2.5 hours) of vigorous intensity activity each week. You can also do a combination of both moderate and vigorous intensity activity.  

The following recommendations are for adults, and you may need to talk to your health professional before you start for personalised advice. 

For the Department of Health and Aged Care's physical activity and exericse guidelines

Click here

Remember, any exercise is better than none so if you’re just starting, you can gradually build up to the recommended amount. Many people start off too hard and then give up because they find it too demanding. Common sense is your best guide. 

When we talk about intensity with exercise, we are referring to how much effort you are putting in and how hard your body is working. 

Light intensity activity feels easy to sustain for long periods of time and your breathing is nice and relaxed, meaning you can hold a conversation. Moderate intensity activity requires some effort – you might feel yourself getting a bit warmer and your heart rate rising, but you are still able to hold a short conversation, e.g. walking briskly. For hard (or vigorous) intensity, you may find you can only talk in short sentences before getting puffed, as your breathing will feel harder and faster.  

A general guide to increasing your intensity when walking is to increase your speed and/or introduce hills/stairs. Alternatively, if you find you are working too hard and need to decrease your intensity level, walk at a slower pace and find a flat route. 

In our communications, you may notice we discuss your intensity with both a description (e.g. moderate) and a number (e.g. 4). These numbers are referring to a modified Rating of Perceived Exertion scale. This scale matches the number ratings with the effort descriptors, and it looks like this:  



When measuring your intensity, the preference is yours – you can be guided by the numbers if that makes sense for you, or simply use the words that describe your level of effort. Just make sure to always listen to your body and refer to your plan for more support. 

Absolutely! We have plans designed for people of all abilities and experience levels. When you complete the registration form, we’ll ask a bit more about your current levels of activity and your exercise history, and answering honestly will make sure the plan you get is best suited to you. Remember though, that the plan is just a guide, and you can ‘walk’ through it at your own pace. 

To make sure a walking plan is safe and appropriate for you, we encourage people who have an injury to discuss this with their health professional before signing up for a PWP. 

Our website is designed to help keep you on track. Login to your dashboard where you can easily mark off the walks, strength exercises and stretches you have completed; and achieve badges along the way for hitting certain milestones.  

You can also manually add your walks or sync certain activity trackers to your account as another way to keep track of your progress on your dashboard. To do this head to ‘Track my walks’ from your dashboard. The activity trackers that can sync to our website are Fitbit, Strava, Map my fitness and Garmin. 

Not yet – but this is something that our team is working hard on behind the scenes! We have heard the feedback from our walkers saying they would like this pause option, so watch this space! 

Definitely! Whether it’s been years or days since your last Personal Walking Plan, you are always welcome to join us again for another round if you find it helps you get moving. Simply request a new plan, complete the relevant questions, and another plan will be sent your way!  

Absolutely! Walking groups are a great way to build on your walking journey and help you maintain your new habit in the company of others. If you would like to see what walking groups are available in your area, use our search function to find your closest group. 

While our Personal Walking Plans are delivered digitally, we understand that internet access isn’t always possible - for this reason, we have created printed plans. To get a printed plan sent to you free of charge, call us on 13 11 12 or email walking@heartfoundation.org.au Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. 

What a great idea! Sharing with a friend is easy to do straight from your dashboard. Simply click the ‘Invite a friend' in the left hand side menu of your dashboard. Here you can copy the link and send to them directly or post and share on social media. This can be a great way to help motivate each other and provide some accountability! 

How much you hear from us is absolutely in your control.  

If you sign up for a Personal Walking Plan, you will be sent weekly emails with your plan and links to more information. To continue to support you further, we will also send you some emails after you have completed the 6 weeks. 

All our walkers will also receive our monthly walking newsletters.  

At any time, you can update your email preferences or unsubscribe from Heart Foundation emails via links in the email footer. 

To unsubscribe from email communications, you can click the link at the base of any Heart Foundation Walking emails or contact us at walking@heartfoundation.org.au

If you would prefer not to receive our SMS’s, simply reply STOP to any message you receive from us, and we will remove you from our list. 

If you choose to share your mobile number at registration, you will be added to our SMS support journey, where we send you tips, advice and some motivational messages. These messages are scheduled to be sent at specific times along your journey. This SMS support is a two-way conversation, and we welcome you responding back to the SMS at any time to let us know how you are progressing, or to ask any questions you may have. To help our team provide you with quick and helpful replies, suggestions for our SMS responses are generated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. While AI technology helps suggest responses to your messages, rest assured that a Heart Foundation team member is still reviewing and replying to you. 

The easiest way to register for a Heart Foundation walking group is to use our Walk finder and search by town or postcode.

When you have found the walking group that suits you best, click 'Join now' and complete the registration form. If you have any questions regarding a group, you are welcome to contact the walk organiser before or after you request to join. 

If there is no walking group in your area, you might like to consider starting your own group by becoming a volunteer walk organiser for the Heart Foundation. For more information on starting a walking group, click here. You only need one other person to start a walking group! 

The information requested on the registration form is essential to allow us to administer and evaluate the program. If you have any concerns about providing any particular information, please email walking@heartfoundation.org.au

You can recover your password by using the 'Forgotten password' link on the login screen. 

You can change your contact details at any time by logging in to your Heart Foundation Walking dashboard, going to ‘My account’ and selecting ‘edit’ on whatever you need to change. Alternatively, you can contact us at walking@heartfoundation.org.au