Are You Challenging Yourself Enough Physically?
November 7, 2018 by Staff
Filed under Health, Weekly Columns
(Akiit.com) Nowadays, the majority of us are living increasingly sedentary lifestyle. This isn’t all too surprising. Companies in various different fields are prioritising convenience and if you need to do something, chances are that there’s a way to do it without having to exert all too much energy. If you want grocery shopping, you can order it online and have it delivered to the comfort of your own home, with the food even being carried from the van to your door. If you want pretty much any other tangible item, you don’t have to head to the shops – you can order online and opt from a range of delivery options.
When you want to talk to your friend, you don’t have to head to their house – you can simply video call them, literally seeing them as you talk to them. Machinery has replaced many manual jobs and more and more of us are working from computers, meaning that we spend most of our working days seated behind a screen. It’s not all too surprising, then, that many of us are not challenging ourselves enough physically on a day to day basis. Let’s take a moment to look further into this!
Recommended Exercise
While everyone has different individual needs, it is generally recommended that the average adult participates in at least one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week or seventy five minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week. Incorporated into this, you should aim to take 10,000 steps on a daily basis.
Set Yourself Challenges
Perhaps the best way to meet these recommended amounts of exercise is to set yourself physical challenges. This gives you a goal to aim for and also means that you won’t want to give up before you get there. Here are some for you to consider. Remember that you will likely to have to put a whole lot of training to prepare yourself before you take the actual challenge yourself!
Swim the Channel
If your preferred form of exercise is swimming, the ultimate challenge that you could take on is swimming the English Channel. The channel is wider at certain points, so you need to choose which route you will take in order to complete this task. The shortest distance is 21 miles and the fastest time that anyone has completed it in is seven hours. Some people take as long as 27 hours. You will need to take a pilot with you on your trip to monitor you and intervene if you need help. For inspiration, take a look at this Jack Kautz Lodi News story.
Run a Marathon
The average marathon is 26.2 miles long. This is an extremely long distance, and you should start training at much shorter distances in order to increase your stamina. Throwing yourself in the deep end could put you at increased risk of injury. Read a complete guide to running a marathon here.
While these are some major physical challenges, you can work your way towards them at a slow pace!
Staff Writer; Peter Jones