Feeling a little ‘blah’ after Christmas and a little unmotivated for the working year ahead? Well we have the perfect solution for you…exercise! But to make it sound less intimidating, let’s just call it ‘getting moving’. This summer heat is pretty hard on the body, unless you are an early bird and get your walk in before 6am, so until it cools down a little, try switching the joggers for the swimmers and run your laps in the pool. Yes, you read that right, running in the pool is good low resistance exercise and will leave you feeling refreshed and energised. Kick board or noodle is also effective if swimming laps is not your style.
Another low-cost way to get moving, that doesn’t involve wearing lycra, is cutting laps of your local shopping centre. Walking in the air-conditioned comfort will help you get your ‘steps’ in, provided you don’t take a pit-stop at Donut King (LOL). And if a Fitbit wasn’t on your Christmas list, many of the smart phones have health apps that count your daily steps and activity levels. This is a good way to motivate you to reach your daily movement goal. Try competing with your partner to see who can do the most steps in a day! The beauty of this app, is as long as you have your phone on you, it counts your incidental exercise too, so taking the stairs while you partner takes the lift is not all in vain!
And while we are harping on about the benefits of getting moving, exercise has been clinically proven to have calming effects on your body and brain, as the stress hormone reduces after a workout. This is particularly the case after aerobic exercise. With the working year kicking off, incorporating any time of movement into your day will help you reduce stress levels improve productivity.
Weight control is another obvious plus, with the right balanced diet of course, not to mention the benefits exercise has on your heart and a myriad of other organs and bodily systems. Our point is, whatever form of movement you choose, exercise will benefit you in the short term and the long run…mind the pun. So if you want to make 2018 the year for a better you, don’t wait another minute, get moving today!