It’s getting colder!!
Winter is coming and the dark nights have already drawn in, a time to hunker down and for some to eat more and move less!
BUT we need to move more and eat less for health and well-being.
Are you finding that in the summer there was the garden and walking, outside activities, safe from covid and helping balance and mobility crucial for health as you get older and now the winter is coming it’s hard to get out and exercise.
As we get older our balance, coordination and muscle strength/bulk decrease and this increases our risk of falling. This, alongside weaker bones and poorer eyesight can lead to falls that cause injury, pain and suffering and can lead to a hospital admission.
We all want to stay out of hospital, for our own benefit but also now to help the NHS cope with the pandemic and the backlog of cases that causes lists to be so long.
It is well known that specific exercises for balance and stability can reduce the risk of falling and that mobility for joints and muscle strengthening keeps us active and moving, also helping our hearts and lungs.
Once you feel steadier and stronger your confidence will grow – we know that people who are less fearful are less likely to fall.
You should come to a class for exercise if:
- you’ve noticed that your balance isn’t as good as it was
- you are new to exercise
- you are over the age of about 65 and not exercising regularly
- you are starting to get thicker around the middle – or elsewhere!!
Improving your balance is especially important before you start a new activity like brisk walking. The confidence you gain will allow you to benefit from the exercise without risking a slip or fall.
Exercise is great for your physical and mental health, it can help with weight control, maintenance of muscle mass, bone health, balance, confidence – I could go on!!! But is it safe in this post-pandemic world?
The critical things about exercising indoors to be covid safe are ventilation and space. In addition, getting to the space where you exercise needs to be managed.
At Walnut Grove studio on Harbour Road we ask you to wear a mask until you start to exercise, you will be met by your instructor, hand sanitiser and the corridor space is then managed. The studio itself is marked out in 2m boxes and any equipment you may use is cleaned between each class. We have first class air conditioning/heating, separate for each space all powered by solar panels and of course, multiple windows.
The classes are small with a maximum of 9 participants and for those who really feel they can’t get out or find travelling difficult then there is also an online option, so you can do the class at home.
At WG studio and our sister Gym F2 (upstairs) we offer a massive range of alternatives, from Sally at the controlled more steady end for those that need more help, guidance and possibly monitoring to Physio led seated and mat Pilates onto Pilates for all and then to F2 for HIIT classes, suspension training and PT – still for all but maybe at the more athletic end than the classes with the WG offering.
There is a variety because people are different, they push themselves differently and have different underlying health conditions.
The message is ‘do something’ over the winter – we should all be working at our health everyday, every week to get the best out of life. Health is not a given, you have to work at it and really it can be fun and engaging in a class situation – come and give it a go!
