At Tees Active we care about our community, the people in it and everyone’s health and wellbeing. Educating our community about the benefits of keeping active is something we are very passionate about, as everyone can experience the health benefits of physical activity – age and abilities do not matter.
So we’ve done our research and put together this webpage to help show you just how beneficial taking part in physical activity can be on your both physical and mental health.
According to our NHS, it’s medically proven that people who do regular physical activity have:
As well as all of the incredible benefits that your health and wellbeing can have from taking part in physical activity, you will also be able to manage your weight better and live a more fulfilling life. Through physical activity you can strengthen your bones, lower your blood pressure and also improve your mental health.
If you have struggled with your health why not try to get more active and see if you feel the benefits. You could even join in activities with the family that you couldn’t before, like tackling obstacles high above the ground at Air Trail High Ropes Course or maybe something closer to the ground like reaching the top of Roseberry Topping!
Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood. Participation in regular physical activity has been found to:
All of us here at Tees Active want to help our community change the way they view physical activity. Not to see it as something we have to do for our health, but as something that we want to do because we feel the health and wellbeing benefits of doing so. Taking part in regular physical activity can greatly impact your mental health and now more than ever, our mental health matters.
When you exercise, your body releases chemicals in your brain; endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These chemicals trigger a positive feeling in the brain and body, ultimately leaving us feeling happier. Therefore taking part in physical activities regularly gives you this feeling all the time!
If you’re currently struggling with your mental health, try to add physical activity into your routine. This can be anything that gets your heart pumping; walk, swim, bike, dance – anything you can think of! Hopefully, you’ll soon see the benefits.
Remember, if you are struggling with your mental health you do not need to do so alone. There are a number of local organisations that can help and to make things easier, you can find information we have put together to help here.
For any type of activity to benefit your health, you need to be moving quick enough to raise your heart rate, breathe faster and feel warmer. This level of effort is called moderate intensity activity. If you’re working at a moderate intensity, you should still be able to talk but you won’t be able to sing the words to a song!
Once you’ve mastered moderately intense activities you can move up to vigorous or high intensity activities! You can tell when it’s vigorous activity because you’ll find yourself breathing hard and fast and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit. If you’re working at this level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.
For most people, the easiest way to keep active is to make activity part of everyday life, like walking or cycling instead of using the car to get around. If you get the bus to work or school, why not walk to the next bus stop and get on from there and then get off at the same one on the way back.
That 5 minute walk to the next bus stop gradually becomes two or maybe three bus stops along and eventually you may find yourself walking all the way to work or school!
Find out more about how Tees Active are working with partners to drive positive change in the community.
