The demands of working from home and caring for kids may be keeping you busy, you may be working long hours in an essential role or, alternatively, you may be waiting at home for normal life to resume.
Whatever your situation, staying active now has never been more important. Keeping physically active is vital for both your physical and your mental health and wellbeing. Being active can help you deal with anxiety and stress and getting outdoors, if you can, is really important.
You can listen to our radio ad on staying active here.
There are lots of options to keep fit even from the comfort of your own home.
The guidelines recommend 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity five days a week for adults, but short bouts of physical activity (even 10 minutes at a time) can quickly add up to 30 minutes. For kids it’s 60 minutes a day –and we have lots more information for them below.
The important thing is that no matter what your age or circumstance you need to keep moving, so make sure to include some physical activity in your daily plan.
Sport Ireland has created an information hub to help keep you active and informed. This hub includes a list of great resources to help you stay active and healthy at home, here are just a few:
Continue to spend time outdoors, as fresh air is vital for the physical and mental health of the whole family. It can help improve our mood, reduce stress and anxiety and enhance self-esteem and sense of wellbeing.
Here are a few tips to ensure you get the exercise you need while keeping safe:
Kids need to be active every day. All activity, no matter how short, counts. Keeping kids active helps them to build strong muscles, healthy bones, agility and co-ordination, while improving self-esteem, mood, energy and sleep patterns.
Here is one example of activity to keep your little ones busy while they are off school. Joe Wicks aka the Body Coach has a series of workouts, specifically for kids available on his youtube channel. It’s aimed at kids but parents are very welcome to join in too!
As you get older it is really important to stay active. Being active can help your body to stay strong and supple, improve balance and coordination aiding in falls prevention, cheers you up and boosts your energy.
Just 30 minutes activity a day could have a huge impact on your health.
Here are some tips to get you going:
IPH - How to stay physically active.
The IPH have listed some ideas on how to incorporate physical activity in the context of present restrictions. Try to find something that works best for you.
You can watch more of their videos here.