Health promotion

Okay, okay, I'll admit it, my fitness level dropped considerably during GEM year 1.  The sedentary lifestyle of sitting on my arse studying constantly has finally taken its toll on me.

Now that I have a ‘summer’ (if by summer, you mean torrential rain), I now have the time to get healthy and fit again (like I was prior to GEM 1) before year 3 starts.  My plan is to get back into weight training again as well as cardio exercise, to both tone up and lose weight.  I have a treadmill in my bedroom and find it an easy was to burn some calories when the weather is terrible outside.  However, the problem that I have always had with treadmills is that they are boring beyond belief, I can't help but feel like a hamster running on a wheel.  I always struggle to stay motivated and can barely last for 10 minutes running on a conveyor belt before I end up thinking, ‘screw this for a laugh’.

However, the other day I stumbled across an excellent little page on the NHS Choices website called:

‘Couch to 5k’, and what a cracking little idea it is.

Couch to 5k is an audio running plan that is aimed at helping anyone (at whatever fitness level) to eventually run for 30 minutes over a period of 9 weeks. 

Nothing that novel really, but why do I think it’s a great idea?  Well, I think it’s a cool idea because the website contains weekly podcasts that can be downloaded.  

The podcasts are brilliant because they act as your own personal trainer, telling you when to start running, when to slow down and when to pick up the pace a bit.   

The plan sets you 3 runs to do per week and after each week you download the next podcast that gives you a running plan that is a little bit more demanding.

It’s a rewarding little programme because you can feel yourself getting fitter as the weeks go on.  Plus it is a great way of keeping motivated if you are running on your own and you never really get the chance to get bored of it because every week you move on to a new podcast.

So there we go, thought I’d put that out there and jump on the health promotion band wagon. 

If you want to get fit and are struggling with the motivation then download the podcasts; check it out guys.  Let me know how you get on if you decide to go for it:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/get-running-with-couch-to-5k.aspx  

- 'Helping medical students keep fit since 2012'