How are you keeping active this year?

As we progress further into the Year you may still be inundated with offers from local gyms and sports clubs. For some, these are great to take advantage of, but the gym is not everyone’s idea of fun. So if the gym route isn’t for you lets think outside of the box this month…

What other ways could you be active?

Over the past year there have been great ideas generated to do things from home, especially when our resources have been limited. In this blog we have put together ways to keep active, including some fun physical activities to help you move more.

Keeping active is linked to positive physical and mental health so it’s vital that we take care of ourselves. There are a variety of ideas, for indoors and outdoors; to do alone or with other members of your household. Select one or two to start with and incorporate them into your week. Having structure to your day is essential for your mental health, so why not make a list of “physical activity to do’s” with our suggestions below?

Indoors:

• Make up a dance routine to a song you enjoy listening to. Think of your favourite uplifting song and create your very own dance moves to it; you can do it by yourself or with other members of your household. That’s approximately three minutes of movement per song!
• Play catch with a ball or if you don’t have a ball use a pair of balled up socks. Try and see how many catches you can do with each hand in one minute. It adds a bit of fun using the non-dominant hand, you could have a competition with other members of your household or try to beat your own time.
• Try some chair-based movements or exercises. Remember even if you are not mobile on your feet you can still move whilst in the seated position – click here for a great way to get started.
• With a bat and ball see how many hits you can make in a minute before dropping the ball and try to beat that each time.
• Try some gentle yoga stretches. There are different types of yoga that may suit different abilities, it’s finding a method that suits you. Click here for a video to try
• Play an at-home scavenger hunt with younger members of the family. This could be done indoors or outdoors, but with the cold wet weather you may want to try it at home instead. Create clues to find the ‘treasure’ it’s a fun innovative way to get children involved and active too.
• See who can do the most repetitions in a minute of star jumps / sit ups / hops / jumps from side to side. Play against yourself or other members of your household.
• Get green fingered, why not try some indoor planting? Indoor plants can help you feel calm, improve air quality, lift mood and get you moving too.
• Upgrade your household chores from the regular routines to doing some DIY? Give that dull wall a fresh coat of paint or update kitchen cupboard door handles?

Outdoors:

• If you are on a walk see if you can collect up to 10 different types of leaves. Not only does this get you out but it also connects you to nature and makes this a mindful exercise.
• Walk or run against the wind. We always tend to walk in the opposite direction the wind – but why not try walking against it – it can add some resistance to your walk and you may even feel a more fulfilling accomplishment.
• See how far you can walk down the road in 5 minutes and try to get a bit further each time.
• Try the lamp post challenge, when on a walk try jogging or running between the lampposts not only does it get you to your destination quicker, it passes time and adds to your daily physical activity recommendations.
• Time yourself walking around the park and see if you can beat it by a few seconds each week.

Not every day is going to be the same. Take a moment each morning to check in with yourself and see where you are emotionally and physically. Then according to where you are at, set goals that are in line with how you feel. There will be days when we are more organised and motivated than others so remember to be kind to yourself. Good Luck and keep active.

We would love to hear from you; let us know what’s your favourite song to dance to? What has got you moving indoors? What are you trying outdoors to make moving more fun?