In the UK it\u2019s National Fitness Day today! A day which was originally created to break down the barriers around exercise and help more people to get active. You might see heavy use of the #FitnessDay across your social feeds and find more fitness content, challenges and events than usual. But what is it all about? #FitnessDay aims to celebrate what our health and fitness means to us as individuals, emphasising that looking after our mental and physical health means something different to all of us. This year, the theme for National Fitness Day could not be more apt \u2013 \u2018Your Health is Your Life\u2019. The annual campaign is focussing on recognising and celebrating the life-long mental and physical benefits of being active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found that in my 20s and even 30s there was a real focus on exercise being purely for weight management – a way to burn off the calories with a heavy sway towards cardio. There was always a pressure to stay slim with little to no emphasis on strength or how exercise made you feel and the mental side of training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I have got older this view on why to train, both personally and socially, has changed and there has been a much more holistic approach to exercise from both a mental and physical point of view. Changing my training style and my reason to exercise has made such a fundamental difference to how I feel in myself and my confidence in my body. I really am now future proofing which is why I love the National Fitness Day slogan of \u2018Your Health is Your Life\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what does this slogan actually mean? For me it’s about the whole 360 degree approach to wellness – it\u2019s your physical, mental and social wellbeing as well as balance. It\u2019s not just about staying physically fit, it’s about our mental awareness too. From an exercise perspective it\u2019s about functional training, training which enables everyday activities to be done with ease, to prevent injuries, training that allows me to be actively there for my family and stay fit and healthy into my 60s, 70s and 80s. Functional training often involves compound moves where we use more than one muscle at a time (for example we squat down to lift something up & then reach to put it away or we rotate to one side as we get out of a car etc) specifically talking about movements which mimic key movements we do in everyday life \u2013 think about it as training for life. For example sitting \u2013 we sit down and stand up off a chair, off the bed, off the loo many, many times in a day but all too often we don\u2019t actually train that movement. We have slightly fallen into the trap of training like an athlete \u2013 for performance, rather than training functionally for the movement patterns we do in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Functional exercise can really impact our strength capabilities. Did you know that more people get injured doing day to day activities e.g. lifting something heavy in the wrong way like dragging the lawnmower out of the garage or getting out of the bath than they do in the gym doing their workout. It will also help you with your strength in other sports or activities that you do – ie your running, football, golf etc as well as housework, gardening\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of the physical benefits of functional training which include enhanced bone density, lean muscle mass, reduced risk of falls and fractures and improved heart health there are plenty of benefits on the mental side of things too. Speaking from experience I know I always feel much better after a good workout. It also helps with improved sleep, mood and immunity \u2013 what\u2019s not to love! All of these tie together to give an all round mental health boost and set you up for success. The National Fitness Day slogan \u2018Your Health is Your Life\u2019 really does encompass both mental and physical wellbeing and I think it is so important we give airtime to both aspects when training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As National Fitness Day is all about getting active and staying active, I thought I would share my top tips on getting stuck in and sticking with it: <\/p>\n\n\n\n