Steps to becoming active – your way

We’re sharing some great tips to help you get active and say goodbye to unsustainable fads and short-term gains, and instead focus on achieving feelgood health and wellbeing.

The thought of getting more active might be a little intimidating at first, you might not know what to do, how long for, when’s best, or even why you’re doing it. But just know this – the basics work.

Whether it’s dancing in the kitchen, walking the dog, playing frisbee in the park, or an online yoga tutorial, keeping active doesn’t have to be about the burn, it’s about what’s right for you because you love it, not because you feel you have to.

How much physical activity is recommended?

For general health, the NHS recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. This would be any activity that gets your heart rate up slightly, to where you can still hold a conversation, but you can’t sing.

Don’t worry if 150 minutes sounds a little off-putting, because you don’t have to do it all in one go, and if you’re doing things you enjoy, you won’t even notice the time passing.

If you prefer higher intensity activities, where even talking is a challenge, 75 minutes a week is recommended. In addition, the NHS also suggests at least two strength days working major muscle groups. But this doesn’t have to be weight training – activities such as swimming, hiking, and yoga also build strength.

It could be a 30-minute round-walk at lunch, a few 10-minute home HIIT workouts when you can find time, a game of badminton with your friend on the weekend, and a Sunday family bike-ride to end the week. Whatever works for you. Of course, what you do depends on your existing health and mobility, as well as the journey you want to be on.

Our goals and what motivates us are as individual as we are. With so many reasons to be active:

• mood-boosting endorphins,
• improving heart health,
• getting a good night’s sleep,

the aesthetic gains, such as weight loss and muscle definition, generally become irrelevant.

So, where do you start? Here are a few handy hints to think about before getting active, as well as some tips to help you fit physical activity into your busy life.

Consider your reasons for becoming more active

It’s important to understand your goals. For some it will be about reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. For others, it could be improving cardiovascular fitness, increasing their range of motion, or purely for the mental health benefits.

If anything, weight loss is a bonus after the multitude of other benefits that physical activity provides for our long-term health, such as:

• reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases,
• some cancers,
• type 2 diabetes,
• as well helping to prevent injuries and mobility problems in later life and helping to alleviate symptoms of depression.

Find what’s right for you

If you don’t enjoy running, don’t do it! If gyms aren’t your thing, don’t join one! Finding something you enjoy can be half the battle, but once you do, you’re more likely to stick to it and make it a regular habit.

Variety is important if you get bored easily and, depending on what your goals are, different activities will bring different health benefits. For example:

Aerobic activity – such as running, swimming and cycling will help to increase cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as make you feel good afterwards. More commonly known as our ‘happy hormones’, our body releases endorphins when we exercise, triggering a positive feeling.

Once the body is used to doing this type of exercise, it also adapts and becomes more efficient, which can increase motivation too.

Resistance training – this is not only effective for strengthening muscles, but also the connective tissues that surround the joints; your ligaments, tendons and cartilage.

Many people tend to worry that resistance work or ‘strength training’ might make them look too muscular when, in fact, it provides so many more benefits depending on the type of training you do.

For example: basic squats, lunges, press ups, etc. can be really good for our posture and supporting our joints, as well as helping us to maintain bone density and muscle mass, which we start to lose as we get older.

This can help us to stay mobile and flexible, reducing the risk of injuries or falls, as well as aid us in everyday tasks that may become more difficult as we age. Movements we don’t often think about, such as:

• carrying shopping bags,
• getting in and out of a chair,
• or lifting heavy objects in the house,

can all be made easier if we incorporate resistance exercises into our lives.

We use many of the same muscle groups to perform a squat as we would to crouch down and tie our shoes, or to sit on the toilet.

Yoga and Pilates – these relaxation-based practices can provide many benefits to health and wellbeing. They are easily accessible, can be practised in the comfort of your own home and often require minimal equipment. There are many online tutorials and classes to get stuck into, so give one a go.

>Read more about some common yoga myths

So, once you know what you want to achieve and what’s right for you, how’s best to fit it all in?

Finding time

There’s always time, if you really dig deep. It might mean getting up earlier, or using your lunch break, toddler nap time, or prepping your dinners at the weekend to free up more time in the evening for a post-work wiggle.

That social media rabbit-hole we often find ourselves in – imagine less time hunched over our phones scrolling and more time moving! If you really don’t have time – for example if you have a busy week coming up – it’s useful to know that even small amounts of activity can be beneficial to our physical and mental health.

In fact, this activity breaks up time spent sitting and can have positive lasting effects on our long-term health. Excessive sitting is linked to weight gain and obesity, some cancers and type 2 diabetes.¹ It also slows the metabolism, which can affect how our body regulates blood sugar, as well as breaking down body fat.

The good news is that it IS possible to reduce these risks by getting up and about for five minutes every half an hour. Cleaning and gardening are also good examples of moderate activity that count towards your 150 minute target each week.

Home workouts

There are times when you may not feel like leaving the house, especially in winter, and that’s fine. A home workout isn’t any less effective than going out for a run, cycle, swim, or gym – and you save time because you haven’t had to go anywhere.

You can create a little home workout circuit, using stairs, chairs or sofas for your resistance exercises. Just pick 5 or 6 moves to repeat, 10 times each – then complete 3 to 5 rounds, or however many you can fit into 20 minutes.

If you’re feeling uninspired, there are online classes that you can sign up to and do virtually. Get creative and use things around the house to create some resistance – load some cans into a backpack, grab the laundry detergent bottle or simply use water bottles.

Habit stacking

One way of finding time for physical activity and maintaining consistency is to attach an activity onto something you already do. For example, can you do 20 squats while brushing your teeth every morning? How about 10 press ups while you wait for the kettle to boil?

Repeating the same activity at the same time every day will help it become effortless and engrained into your lifestyle.

Everyone’s health journey is different, there’s no single ‘correct’ way, as we all find joy in different activities, whether that’s with family, friends or on your own. But what’s certain is that once you’ve found your feelgood activity, you won’t look back.

References

1. Why we should sit less – NHS