Fitness doesn’t have to be hell to be healthy...

WITH the turkey eaten and the last of the festivities over it’s back tp the harsh reality of returning to work. So now with a New Year under way you may have already made your New Year resolutions. Is 2018 going to be the year when you quit smoking, lose weight and get fit?

Did you know that on average we put on five pounds in weight over Christmas, eating 6000 calories on Christmas day alone – that’s around three times as much as we need! It’s no wonder then that we crash out in front of the TV, feeling sluggish, overweight and unhealthy.

We are all aware that being active is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, yet few of us get enough. So what better time than new year to try to become a bit more active? For many, the words “fitness” and “sport” evoke memories – not always pleasant – of cross-country runs on cold winter mornings during PE at school.

We now recognise the difference between fitness for sport and activity for health. Fitness is about how much the body can do and includes concepts like strength, power and endurance. It is an essential component of our top sportspeople.

Activity for health is much more about keeping free from disease and also includes a general feeling of wellbeing, physically, socially and mentally. The good news for all of us is that health does not require the same intensity of training as becoming fit. The key message is that “it does not have to be hell to be healthy!”

If you ask the average man or woman in the street, we know about the benefits of being active but despite this, we are not very good at putting this knowledge into practice. So what are some of the multitude of reasons to get fit and keep fit? • • Reduced stress and improved sleep. • • Improved body shape and stable weight – looking and feeling good about yourself. •

So that’s it then. We have made the decision to get a bit fitter but what should we do?

The aim is to build activity into our daily life so that being active is not seen as something special.

Initially try to build 20 minutes of low intensity activity into your day. As you improve increase both the intensity and duration to try and fit in 30 minutes on most days of the week. This may take several weeks – don’t get discouraged and give up.

The old saying of “no pain – no gain” is rubbish. Mild to moderate levels of activity have been shown to be of benefit for overall health and fitness.

So that all there is to it! Remember, a little goes along way. Modern living is full of convenient ways to avoid activity, with cars to limit our walking, more sedentary occupations and TVs and computers to sit and watch. In this less active world any physical activity is a major plus for our health. Next week I’ll try to encourage you to make the effort and stick at it.