Get your day off to an active start

Getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and taking adequate exercise are all key to good health and well-being. They help to strengthen our immune system and thereby reduce the risk of illness from catching a virus. The measures imposed by central government to restrict the spread of coronavirus have resulted in huge changes to how the general public usually go about their daily lives. We are working from home, we are no longer able to train in gyms and fitness centres and we are enjoying our after-work drinks with friends on screen. Inevitably, people are spending more time seated and on activities involving very little movement (office work on or phones, watching TV). This lack of physical activity is one of the negative consequences of the lockdown measures because regular physical activity strengthens our immune system and thereby protects us from infection and illness. Daily exercise also has a huge positive impact on our mental health (Wipfli et al. 2011, Legrand, Race and Herring, 2018) and reduces the risk of a metabolic disorder (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity) (King et al., 2020, Ong et al, 2020).

To counteract this problem, it is recommended that we add more exercise and physical activity to our daily routine within our own four walls. Before the pandemic, we were told that once a week we should undertake at least 150 minutes of mid-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise. Yet due to the reduced physical activity we are undertaking because of the lockdown measures and working from home, adults are now being recommended to take 30-60 minutes of exercise a day (Jurak et al., 2020, Woods et al, 2020). Where possible, our exercise should be taken outdoors because this has even more of a positive effect on our immune system and well-being (Barton and Pretty, 210). We’re not just talking here about sport, but more especially physical activity, which can be taken in various forms. We will show you how to incorporate these recommendations into your daily life in a simple and meaningful way and thereby get through lockdown healthy and invigorated.

Today, we will take a look at exercising in the morning. To overcome stiffness and sleepiness in the morning and at the same time get more exercise into your day, we recommend incorporating the following exercises into your morning routine. Especially now when we are all working from home, we should use the time we are saving from not commuting in the morning to take more exercise.

Full video with instructions on how to get involved