The last two months has seen life as we knew it turned on it's head. With a nationwide lockdown implemented on March 23rd, the country was given the orders to stay at home in order to control the corona virus, an experience most of us have never encountered in our lifetimes. However, government guidelines encouraged us to venture out the house for 1 form of exercise a day (and more recently, unlimited exercise with an unlimited distance) to help people endure the emotional and physical difficulties this lockdown has brought.
If you’ve been struggling to think of ideas to motivate yourself to stay active during the last few months or are looking for some more creative ways to keep fit than just a few laps around your block, check out some of the things people have been up to below...
With marathons and charity runs postponed or cancelled, charities have missed out on tens of thousands of vital funds and many of our most vital organisations may not survive the hit. Last year, the London Marathon alone raised £66.4m. But lockdown hasn't deterred us Brits from keeping active to help fundraise.
Last month Colonel Tom Moore stole the nations hearts and raised in excess of £23 Million for the NHS by completing 100 laps of his garden just before his 100th birthday.
Social media campaigns such as Run 5, Donate 5, Nominate 5 and the 2.6 mile challenge have been taking the internet by storm and have been a great motivator for people to keep active and donate to charities in need.
Here at Burns Sheehan, we organised a group effort in aid of Mental Health Awareness Week and set ourselves a collective target to run/walk/cycle 2300km over the course of two weeks. We're pleased to say we smashed our target and completed 2538km, raising over £500 for CALM!
If runnings not quite your thing there's plenty you can do to stay fit that doesn't require leaving your living room. Fitness coaches are hosting free live streamed workouts online via YouTube & Instagram. Joe Wicks has become the nation's PE teacher, hosting daily morning workouts for kids and their parents - a great way for the kids to release some of the energy they've been storing up from all the time indoors. You can also try out Nike Training Club for free workout videos.
With our backs more stiff than ever from our working from home desk set-ups and our stress levels sky rocketing, yoga is a great way to work out your mind and body. In our last webinar, Stress Transformation Coach Mica Vaipain explained that taking atleast 5 minutes to yourself every day before work to refresh your mind or practice a mild form of meditation makes a huge difference in how you feel and approach the rest of your day. There are loads of great apps and tutorials online for everyone from beginners to experts to relax and calm your mind during this stressful time, check out FIIT & DownDog.
We would love to hear all about your favourite ways to keep fit during lockdown and all the things you've been doing to make each day more bearable. We're all in this together! socially distant high five
Written by Lauren Sharp
