Get Active
Being active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and has a huge number of positive impacts on your physical and mental wellbeing. These are so helpful, whether you're only going for a short walk or if you're running marathons.
If you’re looking to be active in your own time, want to get active in your local outdoors, or are looking for further inspiration, Sport St Mary's and SIMMSActive have gathered a range of resources to help - check them out below.
Train with your fellow Simmies!
Your fellow simmies have created some brilliant workouts to keep you active during lockdown - you can see them all here. they involve training sessions with professional rugby players, international runners and Team GB polevaulters amongst others!
Exercises for beginners
Exercise is for everyone – don’t ever think that you’re not the ‘type’ to exercise as there are so many forms to get involved in. Below are some examples of courses suited to beginners - If you’re doing these with no prior exercise experience, then give yourself a pat on the back!
- Joe Wicks - Wake Up With Joe - Did you know Joe Wicks is a Simmie? He went from teaching personal training classes in Richmond Park where no-one would show up to being the nation’s PE teacher during lockdown and raising over £2,000,000 for charity at Children in Need this year. His recent exercise series is great for all ages, so why not have a go?
- NHS - Couch to 5k - One of the country’s most popular activity programmes, this 9 week programme is for absolute beginners who want to get into running. Over 1,000,000 have downloaded the app and used the programme this year alone!
Running-based exercises
- Sport England - Join the Movement - this national campaign offers great resources for those who are seeking inspiration to exercise either at home, or outdoors. Whether you’re seeking a home workout that can be done with limited space and equipment, or you’re looking to challenge yourself with weekly runs, there are resources for everyone to get active.
- NHS Couch to 5K - see the 'exercises for beginners' section above for more information on this brilliant scheme.
Cycling-based Exercises
British Cycling - Let's Ride - British Cycling have created a collection of over 1500 national cycling routes for the public to enjoy, around 50 of which are a short distance away from our campuses. Routes start at just 1 mile long, with each one having been risk assessed and reviewed by British Cycling to ensure its safety.
Walking-based exercises
Check out these walking routes of our local parks! Find the best trails in Richmond Park here and the best trails in Bushy Park here!
Walk London - London is a fantastic city to explore, especially on foot! Transport for London have identified 7 routes from the Walk London Network to allow you to get to know the city better. Each route has a series of maps and facts for you to explore.
Home Workouts
- BUCS - BUCS Get Active - BUCS have a library of over 130 on-demand, free home workouts that have been produced by colleagues at universities in Britain.
- Les Mills On Demand - Les Mills offer over 1000 workouts that can be accessed on demand. The service is offered as a monthly subscription, however they offer a 14-day free trial should you wish to get a flavour for the classes.
- Our Parks - Our Parks is an award-winning community fitness organisation. They deliver a range of live and on-demand classes, all of which are completely free. Their Couch to Fitness programme offers a 9-week programme with 3 classes a week to keep you motivated.
- Muscle Wiki – Do you know which parts of your body you want to work but aren’t sure which exercises to do? Select what equipment you have, which body parts you want to exercise, and it’ll give you some great exercises, along with demonstrations and key information for each one!
