Let’s get movin’ and a groovin’

How many minutes of exercise do you do every day? Well, if you are anything like the people surveyed in Nuffield Health’s new Healthier Nation Index, you’re probably doing nowhere near enough to stay happy, fit and healthy.

The comprehensive survey found seven in 10 of us aren’t getting enough exercise, while one in four over-55s has done no exercise at all since the pandemic began. What’s more, here in Scotland, one-third admitted their physical health was worse than it was this time last year.

As someone who is dedicated to promoting an active lifestyle for everyone, these findings are really worrying.

Although some people seemed to be more active in lockdown – walking, cycling and jogging in their free time – there have been just as many who have missed opportunities to get moving.

Working from home has meant the loss of activities such as walking to the train station in the morning or popping to a café at lunch which in turn has meant they struggle to meet the NHS guidelines of exercising for just more than 20 minutes a day.

This has drastic implications not just for our physical health but our mental health, too, as both are so closely linked. We need endorphins – or what I like to call “feel-good transmitters” – pumping around our body and without them we are setting ourselves up for so many problems further down the road.

So, what can we do? Well, first thing’s first, exercise doesn’t have to mean Lycra, sweat, pain and barbells.

Keeping active can be something as simple as dancing around the kitchen to your favourite tunes, borrowing your kid’s hula hoop or, my mum’s new favourite, completing the One Mile Happy Walk on YouTube while listening to The Archers. So, let’s find something that makes us smile and get moving!