Is getting active part of your new year’s resolution?
One of the biggest misconceptions is that getting active means hitting the gym, paying an excessive amount of money for a personal trainer, or running miles to get fit. But in truth, being active does not mean you have to make big lifestyle changes.
You can do so simply by travelling actively from one point to another.
What does that mean?
Travelling actively, i.e. Active Travel is one of the most effective and easy ways to fit in more physical activity into your daily life as well as contributing to helping the environment, such as improving air quality for everyone.
Active Travel England describes it as travelling from one place to another through physically active means. So whenever you swap out your car journey for scooting, walking, or cycling, they all contribute to Active Travel!
So how can you do that? How could you be active and travel at the same time?
Here are some ways you can be active and travel at the same time!
- Walk, cycle, scoot or wheel to your local supermarket. Fun fact, an average person can burn 150 calories per hour by simply strolling through the supermarket. So, imagine if you also walked to your local shop too, you would double the gains.
- Walk, cycle, scoot or wheel to work. Did you know 2/3 of car journeys are under 2 miles, which is equivalent to 15-30 minutes of walking time? An estimate of 3000-3500 steps is a good proxy for 30 minutes of walking. So, if you are able to walk within 30 minutes to your workplace, why not do so? Read more about how walking every day benefits your overall health!
- If you can’t do your whole journey actively, can you walk, cycle or scoot to your local train station to catch a train to work? Or can you try to park a bit further away from your destination and walk/cycle the rest of your way?
- Meeting some friends for dinner in the city? If you live or work close by or are under 3 miles away, why not scoot, cycle or walk over instead of driving and worrying about finding a car park?
Overall thoughts
Swapping car journeys and changing up your routine journeys might feel daunting. After all, it is sometimes more convenient to drive. However, active travel is much quicker than you think! Most people overestimate how long it will take them to walk, and underestimate how long it takes to drive.
With better maintained roads and the help of our digital gadgets, active travel has never been easier. As we walk into the year of 2023, why not try to get out in nature more by travelling more actively?
