Time to hit the road again?
Returning to work? Don’t let your fitness slide
The past two years have been, let’s face it, a bit out of the ordinary. And keeping mentally fit as well as healthy will have been the biggest challenge for many. In a sense, the NHS’s Couch to 5k podcast app could have beenmadefortimeslikethese. With people largely homebound apart from their ‘permitted exercise’ time at the height of the lockdown, getting everyone out and about has been vital in keeping everyone’s mental health in check as well as boosting our physical wellbeing – preventing weight gain, and generally keeping everything moving.
So it will be no great surprise that the NHS app has been downloaded more than a million times during lockdown. What may be news to many however is that the UK training programme is more than10yearsold,withthe original series being devised by an American, Josh Clark, in 1996, intended to help his mother get off the couch.
And while a few of us will have taken up running during the past 18 months, there will be plenty who have fallen by the wayside, especially if returning to work, or indeed who may stumble over the next few months.
The plan is simple, on paper at least – gradually working your way to running five kilometres, over the space of nine weeks.
It may be that those who originally downloaded Couch to 5k will find the idea of starting at the beginning again a bit odd, but it’s possible to begin a few episodes in depending on your level of fitness. However, anyone going back to the start will notice some differences in the app. Previously a nice woman called Laura guided you through the steps to fitness, but now, thanks to a tie-in with the BBC, the app has rather gone upmarket, with a selectionofcelebrityvoicesset to motivate the new runner.
Radio 2’s Jo Wiley may sound most familiar in a set of headphones, while comedian Sarah Millican’s Geordie twang will keep your spirits up as you head towards your goal,
Similarly, Sanjeev Kohli – known for sitcom Still Game – throws off the fake belly of Naveed the shopkeeper to take you round your course.
However, those aspiring to more than mere fitness may prefer the latest coaching addition, Commonwealth Games heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis, who will offer the necessary motivation to get you up to speed.
Visit www. bbc. co.uk/ sport/ getinspired/
43501261.