So Wednesday 25th September is National Fitness day and a perfect opportunity to have fitness and activity at the forefront of your mind for yourself and for your family.
As good as Osteopathy is at helping resolve issues and relieve pain, prevention is always better than cure!
The benefits of activity and exercise are clear, with exercise linked to improved mental as well as physical health. Activity has also been linked with a reduced likelihood of chronic pain.
The current UK guidelines for adults recommend daily activity and at least 150 minutes of moderately intense activity each week (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) with children recommended to have at least an hour of moderate or vigorous exercise each day. With the busy lives we lead and the competing priorities for our time it is easy for activity and exercise to be put off for another day.
Have a think about your activity levels. How do you compare to the national guidelines?
As you can see from the poster there are loads of ways to be active - it doesn't have to cost anything or need specialist equipment - just going for a walk or climbing some stairs can be effective. Whatever you decide to do try to do it for at least 10 minutes for maximum benefit - but anything is better than nothing!
Plan today - what little changes can you implement to make Wednesday 25th September an active day for you and your family? Park a little further from school and walk perhaps? Take a stroll in your lunch break? A family bike ride, kicking a football around with the kids, silly races in the park.
The options are endless - just make them fun for you! Put a bit of thought in today to make sure you and your family get active on Wednesday!
As for me - what will I be doing? Well my aim, following the completion of my degree this summer, is to get back to open water swimming so I will be in the pool slowly getting swim fit once more.
Enjoy your exercise folks