Walking has perhaps been one of the most underrated forms of exercise for years yet, for the first time – in perhaps a long time – so many more of us have been using it as our main form of exercise as opposed to a mode of transport!
When the government announced a lockdown in the UK in March, gyms were closed, dumbbells flew off the shelves and people were confined to their homes except for essential journeys and one form of exercise a day.
Walking took over and, especially on sunny days, our streets and parks became awash with people taking their daily exercise on foot.
How likely are we to continue with this new found leisure activity?
If you have been walking more during lockdown because you’ve found yourself with more time, or even just more of a desire to escape the house, are you planning on keeping it going at the end of this?
Perhaps you’ve been walking during the time you would be stuck in traffic on your daily commute and you’re wondering how you’ll fit it in once things return to normal.
At #GMDailyMile we know just how amazing walking is for your body and mind and, as such, we want to know how we can help everyone to do more of it. Just one mile a day can be extremely beneficial for your heart, joints, muscles, mental health and overall general physical health and wellbeing. That’s just 2000 steps outside in the fresh air or 15-30 minutes of escaping the stresses of life and enjoying the outside world.
If that sounds good to you, but you’re just not achieving this on a daily basis yet, we’d like to hear from you. Collaborate Out Loud CIC is working with GM Walking to start a conversation with you about:
· What gets you walking?
· What gets in the way of you walking?
· What support and resources would help you to walk more?
There’s a wide range of ways you can take part in our conversation from engaging with us on social media, to completing our survey, to walking with us in a virtual ‘walkshop’.
Here’s what’s taking place and how you can get involved over the next few weeks:
Fun Retro Discussion Board
Be part of the out loud conversation on Fun Retro. We ask the question, you add your answers, vote for ones you like and add comments to the ideas we gather.
Taking just 10-15 minutes to complete, our survey allows us to dig a little deeper into the details and understand a little bit more about how we can help. You can also let us know if you’d like to help us as we develop this project!
We will be using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to create communities of people around the topic of walking. In these spaces we will not only ask you to be part of a conversation but share anything you find about walking more each day.
Join the conversation on all channels via #GMDailyMile
Whether you’re already passionate about walking, you’d like some support yourself in getting out more, or it’s something that’s piqued your interest and you’d like to know more, we’d love for you to be a part of our community and our conversation. Come and join us on Facebook or Twitter and work with us to get Greater Manchester moving one mile at a time.
Please spread the word and share with friends and colleagues!
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