Find time to keep active...
IT’S EASY TO BUILD EXERCISE INTO YOUR BUSY DAYS, SAYS MICHELLE CHILDS
ACCORDING to the NHS’ latest obesity review 26% of adults in the UK do less than 30 minutes exercise per week. That’s one in four people in the UK.
Perhaps even more worrying, statistics also show that more than one in five children aged four to five is now overweight; rising to one in three when children reach year six (aged 10-11). While diet is of course a factor, inactivity is a major concern and contributor.
It’s clear we all could do with boosting our activity levels, at any age, but how much should we be aiming for and how do we make those targets realistic for all the family? DON’T FORGET THE ‘WHY?’ FIRSTLY, a little bit of medical inspiration. We all know that it’s better to be more active, but it’s easy to forget what ‘better’ means.
By boosting our exercise levels and maintaining a healthy weight we can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels; reducing our risk of developing diabetes, suffering a stroke and experiencing heart problems. It can even help reduce our risk of developing some forms of cancer.
Being more active is better because it makes us, well, better. WHAT’S RIGHT FOR ME? THE Government’s guidelines state that adults should aim for 150 minutes (or two and a half hours) of exercise per week.
Children aged four to 18 need a whole hour per day (or 420 minutes a week).
For the activity to benefit your health, it needs to be of a moderate level of intensity – meaning your heart beats a bit faster, you feel warmer and you’re slightly out of breath.
A good way to check if you’re exercising at a moderate level is to try and sing your favourite song. If you can speak the words, but not sing, you’re there.
If you find it hard to speak more than a few words at a time and your heart is beating quite fast, you’ve reached high-intensity activity. There is growing evidence that short bursts of high-intensity activity can greatly increase the health benefits of exercise.
If you haven’t exercised for a while you shouldn’t go straight into high-intensity training, as it could be dangerous until you’re more used to physical activity. MAKE TIME TO FEEL FINE TWO and a half hours seems like a lot of time – and that’s something we don’t always have.
One of the main objections I hear from clients about fitting exercising in, is that they can’t find the time. But luckily, that two and a half hours doesn’t need to be done all at once! There are plenty of ways to fit activity into your daily schedule:
Break it up: You don’t need to do all your exercise at once – you’ll actually get more benefits from doing shorter, more intense bursts over the week. Split activity throughout the day; if you have 10 minutes at lunchtime, why not take a fast walk around the block?
Ditch the car: Technology has made our lives easier and therefore more sedentary. Instead of walking, we drive, or take public transport. Get off a stop or two earlier or park around the corner from work and fast walk the rest of the way. You could ditch the car altogether and walk to school/ work, or take your bike.
Get friendly: We’re more motivated if we’re exercising with a friend. Set up a walking group with local parents, or join a gym with your colleagues/friends.
Keep it fun: Getting active doesn’t have to be formal or cost money – walk up a hill on a ‘bear hunt’ with the kids or run round the park with the dog.
Routine: Take a look at your week and identify small pockets of time where you can exercise. Try
and make this the same time each week, as you’re more likely to stick to physical activity if it’s at the same time/days each week. Go tech free: It’s tempting to switch on the TV when you get home; instead of slobbing on the sofa, get moving instead. And if it’s raining, get active in your house! There are lots of free activity videos online, including the NHS’ ‘fitness studio’ range, with activities lasting from 10 to 45 minutes.
Set goals: Don’t expect to get up and run a marathon straight away, especially if you haven’t exercised for a long time. Start with small, 10-minute sessions and gradually build up to your weekly 150 minutes. Set small, achievable goals – this will be more sustainable and less damaging to your body.
Get motivated: If you’re finding it hard to get moving or are unsure of the best ways to get active, your local gym or health centre can give you advice. ANY MOVEMENT IS BETTER THAN NO MOVEMENT THE good news is that it’s never too late to start moving more. Any movement you do is better than no movement at all.
Being active will help control your weight, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and help improve your mental health.
Little and often makes a big difference – just 10 extra minutes a day can improve your health and quality of life.
Michelle Childs is a health and physical activity manager at Life Leisure (lifeleisure.net)