If you think that the benefits of physical activity only come from vigorous sport or exercise, fear not, simply moving regularly can be enough to have huge benefits.
Walking to the shop, taking the stairs, gardening, playing with the kids, standing up at your desk or meeting a friend for a walk all contribute to our activity levels and are be meaningful movements that can make a difference. The aim isn’t necessarily to do more all at once, but to find opportunities to move more often and make those opportunities part of our routines.
As a population, we’re facing increasing levels of inactivity and the associated long-term health consequences, so finding ways to build movement into everyday life can make a huge difference in improving our mental and physical health.
Moving regularly supports cardiovascular health, helps maintain muscle and bone strength, contributes to healthy weight and can reduce the risk of conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
Beyond this, moving more can also support mental wellbeing, improve sleep, increase energy levels and provide opportunities for socialising. For lots of us, being active is an important part of maintaining independence and quality of life as we age too.
These health and wellbeing benefits don’t just come from intensive exercise, but from regular movement as part of day to day habits. The perception that physical activity is only effective if it is done for a certain amount of time or at a certain intensity is simply not true. Embedding small actions (like breaking up long periods of sitting, taking a short walk at lunchtime, doing some gardening or choosing the stairs instead of the lift) can make a healthier lifestyle more sustainable and achievable over months and years.
This is especially important for people who find traditional forms of exercise difficult, whether that’s because of a lack of time, confidence, physical ability, access or because they don’t enjoy sport.
The environments we live, work and spend our time in also influence how much we move, with safe walking/cycling routes, accessible green spaces, inclusive leisure facilities and workplaces that allow people to break up long periods of sitting all having a big impact on how much we move. This makes the conversation around physical activity a wider public health issue, and if we want to move more, we need places and communities where movement is an easy and natural part of everyday life.
What regular movement looks like at different life stages differs too. For children and young people, being active supports physical development, social interaction and healthy habits that can continue into adulthood. For adults, regular movement can support physical and mental wellbeing while helping to counteract the effects of increasingly sedentary lifestyles. And as we age, maintaining movement becomes especially important for balance, mobility and independence. As our needs, abilities and circumstances change, the way we move should change with them.
There can be a tendency to think about physical activity in terms of success or failure, however the goal is not to be an athlete, but to find realistic ways to incorporate movement into everyday life.
Some days might involve a long walk, a gym session or a bike ride, where others might involve getting up regularly during the working day or spending some time outside, and botn have value.
The challenge facing public health isn’t necessarily how to encourage people to exercise more, but how we create a culture where movement is a normal and accessible part of daily life. This calls for collaboration across health, technology, education and the wider community. From wearable tech and digital tools to introducing spaces approaches to encourage movement, there are more and more opportunities to help people move more and sustain healthier behaviours.