With all the swimming pools, gyms, studios and sports pitches now closed there are many common questions frequently asked with regards to well-being and fitness. Below we will go through them as best we can and give some recommendations on how best to proceed in the future.
What is the best way to exercise?
Walk, Run or Cycle. We are blessed to live in a country with so many beautiful places in our localities. In the past we possibly have taken these places for granted. Now is the time to explore your locality and find nice routes where you can exercise. I love walking. I use it as exercise but also escapism. It is the opportunity to get 3 vital resources into your day. Exercise and head space with the added benefit of fresh air is just a magic formula to creating a positive mind-set. Some people use it as a time to learn and listen to their favourite podcast, others listen to music while some use it as a time to connect with nature, leave the headphones at home and listen to the wonderful sounds that nature provides. Whatever your preference let’s try to put a walk, run or cycle into our daily routines.
Tip: Leave your phone at home. If you need it to listen to podcasts or music put it on the ‘Do Not Disturb’ function and enjoy that time to yourself.
Note: Some people are fortunate enough to live within 5 km of the sea. If you enjoy a surf we non swimmers are incredibly envious.
How long should I exercise for?
That all depends on your circumstances. We aim for 60 minutes a day but that may not be possible for a variety of reasons. Do what you can. If that’s 20 minutes that is a great place to start. The key is just getting it into your daily routine
With working from home and home schooling I struggle to find time to exercise. Any Suggestions?
Go with the kids. Bring them around the block on foot or on their bikes/scooters. There are days that this is the best we can do. So just go for it. It will boost your energy.
My motivation for exercise has fallen drastically. I struggle to get myself out of the house. How do I get myself back on track?
Firstly, don’t be hard on yourself. The majority of people are in the same boat. When we lack structure in our lives sometimes our motivations and willpower falls also. The feedback we are getting is that people keep putting off exercise throughout the course of the day. Then darkness or our inclement weather puts us off our planned activity. A way around this is to go early. Don’t put it off until later. Go when the free time presents itself and then it's done. If this doesn’t work, our suggestion is to do a list of tasks in order that need to be completed throughout the day. This list can be done the night before and you tick off all tasks as you do them throughout the day.
I’m a walker and I want to start running. Have you any advice?
Start with 50/10. For every minute you are exercising, walk for 50 seconds and then start to run for 10 seconds. This may seem like very little but our aim is to build this up over time. After possibly 3-4 four times of completing this you will then move to 40 seconds walking and 20 seconds running. When this then gets comfortable you progress to 30 seconds walking and 30 second running. And the process continues until you get to a minute of continuous running. This will not be easy so take your time. At times you will fail to hit your goal. Don’t take this badly. It happens to everyone when trying something new. Dust yourself down and try again. You will get there.
I love weight training. Is there any way to perform resistance exercises at home?
Obviously most people won’t have machines at home. But weight can be added through many different formats. From books in a backpack to water bottles there are ways that you can perform resistance training at home. Body weight is also a very productive way to do your weight training. We have a massive library of videos available on our YouTube channel which you can access by following the link. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXVBIJ0AifnJvAziCtQsWTA
My teenagers will not do any exercise and seem addicted to the PlayStation. How do I get them moving?
This is one of the major problems the pandemic has posed. Young teenagers through no fault of their own have lost all the organised sporting and fitness activities that were once at their fingertips. There is no easy solution here. What we must not do is force exercise on them. Is there a way we can come to a deal with them? Make them create their diary for the school week and in it let them outline the exercise they plan doing while also outlining online gaming time for the week. This way you are not taking anything away from them. They have lost enough so do not take the game console away from them. I believe this will backfire if you do. We as parents do not need to take any more freedoms away from teenagers. Let them decide on a Sunday evening when they plan to do exercise during the week. Write it down and agree to the outline for the week ahead.