FUN WAYS TO KEEP FIT

Oh man has my fitness suffered in the last six months. Yes, I’ve done some hikes here and there but generally speaking I’ve either been sat on my motorbike, sat on my office chair at work, or sat on my sofa at home. An awful lot of sitting. And slouching. So it is time to get moving again and get to a point where my lungs and legs don’t complain so much when I ask anything of them.

I could take up one of the Olympic team or individual sports I ended up watching over the last three weeks to help me keep fit, I could join a gym, or I could get outside and run. But to be honest if I’m actually going to get motivated to move and keep moving I’m going to need to come up with something a whole lot more interesting than proper or serious exercise. So I thought I’d take to my blog and write a guide on fun ways to keep fit in the hope that I might actually listen to my own advice for once – and maybe it’ll be useful to you, too.

Seven Fun Ways to Keep Fit

Try New Things

The good thing about having a huge bucket list and having a deep love of trying out new things is that much of the time, those new things are quite energetic. I’ve had an introductory track cycling lesson on the Lee Valley velodrome, which definitely got me working hard, and had a superbly fun half an hour fly boarding at Tattershall Lakes. If you want to help keep yourself fit, trying new things is a great way to do it – you never know, you may find the one thing that will keep you motivated to move every day!

Track cycling at Lee Valley Velodrome.

Head to the Beach

There is so much fun to be had at the beach. When I was a kid I used to love playing cricket with friends (and random strangers) at the weekends, go body boarding and surfing, flying kites, clambering along rocks and up cliffs, and generally messing about. I don’t think I’m too old to do any of those things now, but it’s been a while. I also enjoy a more sedate walk along the beach with the waves lapping at my bare feet – and even just walking on the sand in bare feet works all sorts of muscles you never thought you had.

Walking along the sand is a great way to exercise.

Learn to Scoot / Skate

There’s a new skate park close to my house but I’ve yet to pluck up the courage and join the local kids at having a go skating or scooting along the gnarly looking concrete jumps and metal rails. Is 35 too old to (re)learn to ride a skateboard or scooter? I don’t think so! But maybe I won’t join the kids right after School, maybe I’ll get up early on a Saturday morning, put on my cool cap, and go when the families are still in bed 🙂

Use Park Equipment

Random brightly coloured bits of park exercise equipment are cropping up all over the place now, I bet you have some monkey bars or something more complicated looking near you that you can go and play on. Park gyms are great and really popular but you can burn plenty of calories in a normal park too; use your kids (or friend’s kids) as an excuse if you need to.

Playing in the park!

Dance In and Out

Fancy a night out? Hit your favourite bar or club and dance the night away; if you wear a pedometer you’ll be super surprised at how many steps you do when you’re on a nightclub dancefloor. But you don’t actually have to leave your house to help keep fit. Get some music on, turn it up, and dance around in your kitchen while you’re cooking your (super healthy) dinner or doing the ironing.

Take Your Phone for a Walk

I’ve heard so many people say they or their teenagers have walked so many miles since they started playing Pokemon Go. Which is awesome if you ask me; a game that gets people out and about in the fresh air rather than keeping them sat inside hunched over with their curtains closed. I have to say I’ve not given in and downloaded it myself, but I do like to go Geocaching which is a great way to give purpose to walks, and that tends to be more countryside focused than Pokemon hunting. You can easily turn Geocaching into a game and have some fun with it, too, just turn it into a competition.

Don’t Meet for Coffee

Been meaning to meet up with a friend for AGES? Don’t meet for coffee, go for a walk instead – you can catch up and put the world to rights as much as you would if you were sat in Starbucks, but you burn calories rather than just drinking them. And I happen to think that going for a walk out in the countryside or through town is loads more fun than sitting inside looking at everyone else.

Walking the Yorkshire Three Peaks with friends.

I’m probably supposed to provide you with some disclaimer here that says none of these ideas should replace proper regular exercise, but if you’re motivated to move by having fun then who can argue? Just get out and have fun!

This post is a collaboration with Skatehut but as always the words and ideas are my own. Now who’s going to teach me to skateboard? PS I’ll need a skateboard.