As the UK enters a 4 week lockdown, it’s more important than ever that we stay healthy, fit and active.
In the UK, a report suggests that two thirds of people who have fallen seriously ill with coronavirus were overweight or obese. Almost 72% of those admitted to critical care with coronavirus were overweight, including 40% who were obese. Obesity can cause a range of health conditions, which may make the virus more deadly. In addition, it can exacerbate breathing problems.
During lockdown we need to be more creative about activity. We should see this as an opportunity to be more active rather than less and help the NHS. The World Health Organisation recommends an adult does 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week to keep healthy.
Moderate exercise can be things like:
brisk walking
water aerobics
riding a bike
dancing
doubles tennis
pushing a lawn mower
hiking
rollerblading
Vigorous exercise includes things suc
jogging or running
swimming fast
riding a bike fast or on hills
walking up the stairs
sports, like football, rugby, netball and hockey
skipping rope
aerobics
gymnastics
martial arts
Whatever your exercise of choice, the important thing is to keep active. Of course, with lockdown restricting a lot of our social activities, some of the suggestions on these lists aren’t going to be possible.
At Get Fit Today, we are all about Putting the Fun back into Fitness although, it would be a stretch to think of vacuuming at home ‘fun’, it’s a good way to squeeze in ten minutes a day. Do this every day for a week and you’ve pretty much hit the 150 minutes, plus your house will look amazing! 😀
However, for those of you who employ cleaners or prefer a different style of exercise, here are our 7 top tips for staying active during lockdown:
Work-out at home. This is obviously our favourite as not only will it keep you healthy, fit and active it will also keep your mind on the type of exercises we do every day at Get Fit Today. During the lockdown, we will be hosting some online classes, Posting some previous workout videos and sending workout of the day emails and blogs. Choose what works best for you and stick to it
Join an online group. Get Fit Today has a member group on Facebook which we hope you will join and chat to each other, keep each other motivated, share your workouts and anything else you want to help keep us all going until we are back in the park
Challenge yourself! We will be running a 500 burpees in November challenge, where your mission is do exactly that. You can do 50 in a day or 15, your choice entirely - just keep a running log of how many you do and send some photos or videos in to the group so we can see your form....😃
TV challenge! Click this link to see the TVworkout challenge we published a few months ago during the first lockdown
This is a great way to fit some exercise into your leisure time. There are lots of different versions of this challenge, either doing the same exercise for the entire set of adverts; doing an exercise for one advert and resting during the next or maybe go for a Superset and swap exercises for every other advert but use the same muscle group. Absolute killer!
5. Apps. There are loads out there available for free now and as much as we would like you to 7se our Facebook group, workouts and blogs it would be foolish if we didn’t mention these. Nike fitness club, FIIT and CENTR are 3 of the best for sure but there are plenty to choose from. Have a scroll through the App Store and find one that suits your lifestyle
6. Walk! If you struggle to motivate yourself to gong out for a run on your own and don’t enjoy doing home workouts, get out and go for a walk. Plan to do at least half an hour, at a pace that raises your heart rate, warms you up and gets you breathing faster than normal. Take a torch if you’re heading off in the evenings, or better still take a friend.
7. Housework. As mentioned briefly above, it might not be the most fun activity, but you can really burn some calories.
Cleaning the windows? 150 calories in 30 minutes.
Gardening? Up to 200 calories for 30 minutes.
Cleaning the whole flat can be the equivalent of a 5-mile run!
The most important thing is that you do something. You’ve been working hard at your fitness over the past few weeks and months, don’t let that go to waste. Join our members Facebook group, chat to your fellow members and keep each other motivated.
We’re here for you every day, any time. Drop us a text or email, message our Facebook page or give us a ring. If we stick together, we can do this! 👍💪👊
