Feeling great: Ways to keep active during autumn

So in a few weeks the clocks are going back. And for some people that knocks them completely off track.
Reader pic Colourful leaves at Chatsworth taken by John LeighReader pic Colourful leaves at Chatsworth taken by John Leigh
Reader pic Colourful leaves at Chatsworth taken by John Leigh

Some people hate early mornings. Others hate dark evenings. Either way, it’s generally agreed that during autumn and winter your pillow and warm duvet calls louder than going for a jog. Yet since keeping active releases endorphins (those feel-good hormones), and a lack of sunshine reduces serotonin (which balances out our mood) ditching exercise for staying wrapped under the covers for another 20 minutes isn’t exactly the best answer.

Want to know some ways to make it easier for yourself and decrease the likelihood of the cold weather making your joints feel stiff and achy? Lets get to them!

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First off, keep it simple. Seriously, exercise doesn’t need to be over-complicated. Can you find 20 minutes in your day for a brisk walk in the fresh autumn air?

But what if you can’t face the idea of going for a walk when it’s a bit colder outside? That’s easily solved - Go for a walk indoors.

How do you do that? Simple! You can boost your fitness and increase your step count by taking a brisk walk around your local shopping centre, or even when you need to pop to the shop to get some food in for the week. Just pick up the pace and walk a bit faster than normal, and you’ll be fitting activity in without making any extra effort.

One of the next things I love about this time of year is this - Beating the crowds.

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Of course it’s nice to head off for a coastal stroll during the summertime, but the only problem? Everywhere during the summer is packed! But now the kids are back at school, parks, beaches, and national walks are much quieter so you have the perfect opportunity to take full advantage of the peace.

Next, try something new.

Like I said earlier, now is the perfect time to start building and sticking to healthy habits just before the clocks go back, and what better way to kick start that by trying something new?

The list is endless – Yoga, Pilates, bowls, indoor badminton, whatever you fancy!

Set yourself small, achievable, goals

One thing I’ve found that keeps me on track is setting myself goals.

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Setting yourself achievable goals can be the trick to keeping yourself accountable.

Next - Go dancing! Now Strictly Come Dancing is back on our TV screens how can you NOT feel inspired to dance? There’s plenty of dance classes around.

This next one is really easy there’s no excuse - Up your activity levels at home.

Let’s be realistic despite your good intentions, chances are you’ll be spending more time indoors over the next few months than outdoors – it happens to pretty much all of us. However, that doesn’t mean your activity levels have to drop – as long as you remember to add some incidental exercise into your day.

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A few tips? If you need to take a call, stand up and walk around whenever you’re on the phone. You could always deliberately leave it in another room so you have to hurry to answer it when it rings, too. And doing the housework can also get the heart going.

Autumn is a great time to take advantage of building new habits and maintaining your fitness to help make keeping those good habit up in winter, easier.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you’ve got back pain that makes it hard to get out of bed on a morning and keep active – a bad back that’s flared up, has come on out of the blue, or if you’ve been suffering for a while that it’s just become a normal part of your daily life – that doesn’t have to be the case.

Here’s a free tips guide that you can start using as soon as today, to help ease your back pain quick, visit here to download it: http://www.paulgoughphysio.com/back-pain