Kent Sport Health and Fitness Instructor Chris Payne encourages us to monitor our daily exercise in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.
Whilst on my morning bike ride (as a substitute for spinning) I noticed that some local people had chalked various children’s games and activities into the paths. Hop scotch, numbers games and follow the wiggly lines. I’m assuming the purpose was to engage other people whilst out on their daily walks, and my first thought was why we don’t have similar markings on pathways generally. It seems that as soon as we leave primary school we are expected to forget that we were once children and grow up fast.
Matt Groening once said:
‘Most grown-ups forget what it was like to be a kid. I vowed that I would never forget’
When I pick up my daughters from school, I watch all the children walking to the school gates but making sure they follow the wiggly lines and pictures and patterns on the floor. As adults, the sheer thought of walking across campus or down to the shops but occasionally following a wiggly line or doing a quick hop scotch would bring a smile to the face. It would be an excellent way to engage both the mind and body. In essence do not forget the time when we were active, robust and without a care in the world!
However, my actual purpose for this week’s blog was to encourage you to be more mindful about your physical and mental activity and to become your own sports scientist!
Douglas Busch said:
“Behavioural psychology is the science of pulling habits out of rats”
As I sign off and make this my last blog I would like you spend a small amount of time everyday monitoring your physical activity levels in the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle a habit that continues to evolve. For example, become aware of how long you walked for and what the distance was. If you have a FitBit watch track your steps and aim for a weekly goal of steps. Furthermore, using a FitBit can give you feedback about your heart rate both at rest and when exercising. Maybe one day you want a general walk and some Yoga to help with your general wellbeing, but the following day you want to target cardiovascular fitness and therefore you might have to walk/jog/run/cycle a little bit more intense. Do not worry if you don’t have FitBit watch; simply use a scale of 1-10 when you exercise, 1 being easy and 10 being very hard.
Whatever exercises, monitoring and method of exercise you choose to adopt, the same principles apply at home as they do in the gym. Your goals should be realistic, achievable and measurable. You might want a bodybuilder’s physique but without certain equipment that is not realistic, instead aim to use bodyweight exercise to produce good functional muscles. You should be able to achieve your goals and build upon such as adding extra reps, time or speed. You should be able to track your progress even if it is as simple as your hamstring flexibility appears to be improving.
If you are still unsure about your health and fitness habits, remember the following:
“Be early to bed, early to rise. Eat good food, avoid bad food and exercise” – Bernard Hopkins
Oh…and get the chalk out and play some games! Thanks for reading and speak soon.
Wellness Wednesday is part of Kent Sport’s #KentSportStayWellAtHome series of daily blogs and vlogs to keep you positive during these unusual times. To be sure not to miss our updates, Like us on Facebook and follow on Instagram and Twitter @UniKentSports – we hope you enjoy and join in!