To celebrate National Fitness Day and to get you moving, we’re completing the ‘spell your name challenge’ here in our head office! Why not join in and have a little fun yourself?!
Simply spell your name (or any other word you fancy) and complete the workout. To make it harder, use your full name or complete it twice! Want to make it competitive? Get your friends or colleagues together and create a video for your Instagram feeds!
Making exercise into a game like this is a great way to either squeeze some additional crunches into your day or a fun way to get yourself moving if working out isn’t high on your list of priorities.
National Fitness Day is used to highlight the importance of living healthy and active lifestyles while celebrating the fun of fitness!
People all over the UK are getting involved in various activities throughout the day – what will you be doing? You can find your local event
here.
Why work out?
Exercise can improve your health with immediate and long-term health benefits, including:
- Better sleep quality
- Higher concentration levels
- Increased memory skills
- Relief from stress and anxiety
- Strengthened immune system
- Increased movement and flexibility
- Release of mood boosting chemicals
…and much more! There really is every reason to do a little exercise often, get your heart rate up and feel great!
To stay healthy, adults aged between 19 - 64 are encouraged to do at least 45 mins of exercise every day. This may seem like a lot at first, but you don’t have to do it all in one go! There are lots of little ways to add a bit more movement to your day. Why not try these easy fitness hacks:
- Taking the stairs instead of the lift
- Getting off the bus a stop or two earlier and walking the rest of the distance
- Going for a walk in the evenings or during your lunch break
- Do some jumping jacks or squats while you wait for the kettle to boil
- Perform a quick HIIT routine while you wait for dinner to cook
- Taking your kids to football over the weekend? Why not go for a walk around the field while you watch them
- Try some easy exercises at your desk while you are on a conference call
- Put on a few of your favourite songs, grab your hairbrush and dance around your room like you were 16 again!
- Watching tv? Do some crunches while the adverts are on
A report released earlier this year from the NHS showed that they received 617 thousand hospital admissions in 2016/17 where obesity was a factor. This is an increase of 18% from the previous year. You can read more about this
here.
Almost 1 in 3 Brits are now estimated to be obese according to studies by University College London. Many suffer with type 2 diabetes which costs the NHS around £10 billion annually. However, you can take steps to prevent this right now by making a few small but significant changes to your lifestyle.
Here are some simple changes you can make to your improve your health:
- Cut out sugary and fizzy drinks and switch to water (try adding a small amount of sugar free cordial if you don’t like the taste of plain water)
- Aim to drink 7-8 glasses of water a day. Recycling a large bottle to use throughout the day is a great way to visually keep track of how much you have drunk)
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night
- Increase your fibre intake (females should eat 25g a day, 38g for males)
- Don’t go food shopping when you are hungry
- Give yourself larger portions of veggies and less carbs for lunch and dinner
- Cook healthy recipes at home and meal prep for the week ahead instead of eating out
- Set yourself mini goals for eating heathier and exercising that you can achieve throughout the week
- Go for a walk after eating a large meal to help with digestion
- Swap your sugary snacks for fruit alternatives
- Switch to wholegrain bread and pasta instead of white
- Eat until satisfied, not full
- Start going to a fitness class like spinning, yoga or boxercise with a friend! Find out why group training works
- Cut down on your caffeine addiction
- Stop smoking
- Switch butter for coconut oil to cook and bake with
- Infuse your water with lemon to aid digestion
- Need to be on a long conference call? Get up and pace around the office to burn extra calories!
Want some more inspiration? Check out the hashtag
#Fitness2Me to see the latest national fitness day posts, including ones from your favourite celebrities and sports heroes!
For more info, visit the National Fitness Day website!