The above image from Public Health England's 'Health Matters: getting every adult active everyday' (1), shows the variety of activities you could participate in order to achieve recommended guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week.

A very recent publication entitled 'Well-being of Wales 2019' (2) released September 2019  evaluated the effectiveness of national strategies to increase the percentage of adults participating in physical activity.  As you can see the findings were not encouraging.    

Last year we delivered 'WALK and TALK' sessions, encouraging our participants to benefit from 30 mins of steady paced brisk walking for their social but pulse raising exercise.  This year we are launching the NEW 'Scrabble Club at the Beach'.  Studies have shown significant evidence to suggest regularly engaging your brain can reduce the risk of dementia in later life (https://www.helpguide.org/articles/alzheimers-dementia-aging/preventing-alzheimers-disease.htm ) so we are exercising that grey matter of yours with a social game of Scrabble followed by a supervised 1 mile walk (no exercise walk in winter months).  There is free fruit so you can tick off your five a day but please bring water, comfortable shoes and a hat.  The sessions are aimed at participants over 50 years old.  If you would like to book in for a health and fitness assessment so you get the most out of the physical exercise component of this session please contact us on 07961924950 to book.  If you only want to play scrabble, that is fine too.  

Scrabble Club at the Beach
Thursdays, 12 (noon) to 2pm
at Swansea Central Library (ground floor)
Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea. SA1 3SN

Currently Public Health England recommends that everyone aims to participate in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week as this significantly improves both your physical and mental health.

For decades the focus has been on the benefits of physical activity on your physical health, for example the reduction in risk of conditions such a cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity.  For this reason I made it a priority to stay informed by attending continued professional development training in BACR (British Association of Cardiac Rehab) Phase IV,  GP Referral and MEND (a child anti obesity project) programmes.  More recently research is being directed toward the effect of physical activity on mental health conditions such as GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) and Depression.  The evidence has led to Public Health England recommending the 30 minutes, five times a week of moderate physical activity approach to reduce mental health problems.  It is also recommended that everyone opens dialogue with those around them on the topic of mental health whether they are affected by mental health or not, so the stigma around it is removed.  Public Health England  suggests everyone incorporate wellbeing strategies into their everyday life.  An example is the 'Five ways to wellbeing' strategy, an evidence based report commissioned by the Foresight Reports and compiled  by New Economics Foundation in June 2008.

​More recently, government attention has turned to rise in reported mental health issues in the working population.  In October 2017 the Stevenson / Farmer review 'Thriving at Work' stated, "the correct way to view mental health is that we all have it and we fluctuate between thriving, struggling and being ill, possibly off work". 

So whether you are someone who feels you are affected by mental health or if you are an employer who would like to see the reported cost to benefit ratio of 1:4 in your workforce then, please do get in touch with bravelifestyle.  We can help you lead a physically and mentally healthier 2018 through our 1-to-1 or small group exercise programming / sessions.    

​With the news of the revised recommended alcohol consumption for UK men hitting the headlines this weekend I have had some interesting conversations with a couple of my clients.  You should remember these are ‘guidelines’ aimed at the ‘general’ public.  The scientists and researchers who are commissioned by the government’s healthy advisory to produce this report have reviewed the wealth of published research specific to our population here in the UK and suggested that ‘if’ you take alcohol you should try to limit it to the new 14 units (six pints of beer / seven average glasses of wine [175ml] / 14 single shots). 
 
One of my clients said to me “I don’t drink alcohol, is it okay if I start drinking red wine because I read its ‘proven’ to have health benefits”.  I pointed out to her that, “Acting on small bits of information is not the wisest approach.  With a more in depth investigation into the research you will find it is generally accepted that the research shows those marginal benefits aren’t generally done on a UK population, more a Mediterranean population”.  You should take everything you read with inquisitive dubiousness.  Read around the subject then try to put what you have read into context and see if it relates to you.  It could be argued that there are various other factors that may influence the findings such as the Mediterranean diet, the better weather which encourages more days annually for participating in outdoor physical activity etc.  If you are well below the alcohol consumption of the ‘average’ British male or female, then pat yourself on back and continue to demonstrate in your weekly routine the factors that encourage good health and wellbeing (eating your 5-a-day, 5 x 30 minutes of moderate physical activity etc.)
 
Another client said, “I’ve been drinking more than this new recommended amount my whole adult life but I’ve also been active in sports all my life so I don’t have to worry, I’m a big rugby guy, my body copes with it fine”.  I commented to him that, “Although he is stocky guy of which a lot is muscle (from the weights training I have prescribed for him), a lifetime of exposing your kidneys to alcohol ‘could’ lead to renal problems later in life”.  The body is in a constant state of equilibrium, when you feed too much alcohol into the system the renal system and particularly the kidneys work overly hard to process the alcohol and re-establish equilibrium.  Forcing the body to do this throughout your lifetime (especially what was the case with this individual, weekend binge drinking with his friends in town after the match) ‘could’ cause internal problems that may not be readily visible.  If you already consume alcohol, but are currently taking more than the new recommended allowance, there is no harm in reducing your intake as it can only help you.
 
In summation my advice is that you should live an ‘everything in moderation’ lifestyle.  This for me would relate to many things we do in life. I eat a varied diet weekly of red meat, white meat and fish high in essential fatty acids, I balance my diet with fruits and veg for the mineral and vitamin content so my physiology functions well.  I drink socially and in moderation (which happens to fall within these new recommended amounts).  I exercise during the week but make sure I give me body enough time to recover and the exercise I do is physical activity I ENJOY doing with friends (salsa dancing, cycling along the beach and mountains, playing recreational basketball).  I like to think I benefit mentally and physically from my ‘everything in moderation’ lifestyle and would recommend all my clients to do the same. 
 
Please do get in touch if you would like to book one of my one-to-one ‘HEALTH SCREENING’ appointments and we can design an exercise and healthy living programme specifically suited to you for 2016.