HEALTH & FITNESS

One of the best and most effective ways you can improve your life is to start with one single step every day.

Exercise in any form will help to improve your physical health, your emotional wellbeing and your overall enjoyment of life.  For many of us just starting to exercise again for the first time in years, the thought of getting into exercise can be daunting.  But it doesn’t have to be.  And you don’t have to wake up one day and start running marathons.

The first thing you should do is find a form of exercise that interests you.  If you like the outdoors, choose walking or hiking.  If you like being with other people, maybe a team sport like touch rugby or football might be appealing.  If you love the water, then swimming could be perfect.  Once you find an activity that surrounds an interest, getting into that form of exercise should bring you enjoyment.

Start with a lower impact exercise that doesn’t require lots of extra equipment or having to go to a go to a special place like a gym.  So put on a pair of walking shoes and go for a walk!  Or if you take a bus or a train to work, get off a few stops before and walk the rest of the way.  Put some music on to make the journey more enjoyable.  With a week or two, you will want to walk further and faster!  Enjoy it!

Perhaps you used to play a team sport like football at school, but find you body isn’t quite as flexible as it once was.  Yoga is one of the oldest forms of exercise and dates back to over 5,000 years ago in Northern India.  And there is good reason it is regaining its former popularity.  All you need are some comfortable cloths, an exercise or yoga matt and your mobile phone.  Jump on to Youtube, search for “yoga for beginners” or “easy yoga” and you will find hundreds of easy to follow videos.

For some of the guys reading this, you may think yoga isn’t manly enough.  I played ice hockey at a competitive level for 21 years and rugby for 5 years.  One of the most rounded and satisfying types of exercise that I have ever done is yoga.  There are different levels and types and for someone in their mid-40s now, my body doesn’t react well to impact sports.  So yoga for 30 minutes every day keeps me in great shape, I am the most flexible I have ever been and have great energy all day long.  And the cost – £9.99 for a yoga matt!

So no matter how you start, take one step more each day than you did before and you will begin to embrace your health and fitness journey!