Why now’s the time to get fit and stay fit to improve your physical wellbeing
Let’s get physical! One of the dangers of lockdown is to be lulled into laziness, watch too many box sets, eat and drink too much, but there is no excuse to not start exercising to get fit and stay healthy.
PHYSICAL WELLBEING is more important than ever at the moment.
Bouts of ten or more minutes of physical activity have proven health benefits. Getting 150 minutes or more of moderate activity every week is the amount we need to positively impact on a wide range of health conditions.
Indoors and outdoors, there are a range of activities to boost our health and to suit everyone.
Exercising indoors, you can tune into family exercise classes from PE lessons to yoga classes, cycling to ballet.
Exercising outdoors, as an individual or family bubble, can take the form of walking, cycling and playing games.
Local authority websites also offer a wealth of information about becoming active for all ages and abilities.
Running is among the
most popular forms of exercise as you can start at any time and go at your own pace.
The nhs.uk/better-health website has lots of tips to get
nhs.uk/better-health
started, videos illustrating how to stay fit at home as well as access to free Active 10 walking app and, for the more adventurous, a Couch to 5K running app.
It’s that time of year when we can’t make vitamin D
from sunshine. To keep bones and muscles healthy it’s best to take a vitamin D supplement every day between October and early March. You can get vitamin D from most pharmacies, and supermarkets and other retailers. Just 10 micrograms a day is all you need – it’s the same for the whole family.
The flu vaccine is safe and your very best protection from flu and that’s why it is free to those most at risk.
If you smoke, stopping is the single best thing that you can do for your health.
Go to nhs.uk/better-health/ quit-smoking to find the best way to quit for your circumstances.
Similarly, men and women are safest not regularly drinking more than 14 units per week – a bottle and a half of wine or five pints of lager.