Exercise is great for managing stress and anxiety, but for many of us the pandemic has meant less activity and more strain on our mental health. That’s certainly what a small survey of veterans and their families by charity Help For Heroes found, with the main reason given for exercising less being a lack of motivation.
While Help For Heroes’ primary purpose is to support veterans with injuries or illness sustained in service, it has a new fundraiser, Step 2 It, that provides you with a good reason to get more active. This challenges participants to hit a step tally every day for 30 days to raise money for its essential work. Your efforts are more important than ever as, like other charities, Help For Heroes is facing a drastic drop in revenue. It is asking everyone who takes part to commit to raising £150.
“Sport and exercise are massively important for many of the sick and wounded veterans that we support,” says Hannah Lawton, sports recovery manager at Help for Heroes. “Not just to help their physical wellbeing, but to improve mental health. It can be a great way to re-motivate yourself after injury or illness and help you realise you can still do the things you love.
“Over the past few months, many people have found solace in exercising and keeping fit. But like many of our veterans, there are also those who have felt demotivated because of concerns and worries caused by the coronavirus, even though exercise makes us feel better. Our hope is that Step 2 It will give anyone and everyone across the UK a goal to work to – either to motivate them to get back into exercise, or a reason to keep up new habits formed.”
See related
- It’s Astounding How Much Running Can Improve Your Mental Health
- Are You Stress Eating During The COVID-19 Pandemic?
- Why 10,000 Steps A Day Is An Excellent Target
One thing we like about this challenge is that while Help For Heroes suggests doing 10,000 steps a day, it also makes it easy to adjust that number to as many or as few as you like, so people of all fitness levels can take part. It’s a great thing to consider doing with your family, especially now the summer holidays means those children who had returned to school are back at home.
Once you’ve signed up, the Step 2 It challenge can automatically import your steps from a Fitbit device or app, as well as from the Strava or Runkeeper apps (using a steps equivalent for the distance you covered). You can also enter it manually from another fitness tracker, pedometer or smartphone app.
