Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving

You can’t throw, catch, chase or kick a ball? Don’t worry, help is at hand. We highlight a host of fun, healthy activities to get you moving – even if sports just aren’t your thing.

By Staff

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Wild Swimming – Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth… the monotony of swimming the lanes at your local public pool is hardly an incentive to swim more regularly – not to mention the sore eyes and irritated skin that often come from the chlorinated water. Why not free yourself of that artificial experience and try wild swimming? Taking a dip in local rivers, lakes or even the sea (in safe locations) is sure to restore your love of moving through the water, while allowing you to once again enjoy all the well-known health benefits it offers.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Stand-Up Paddleboarding (SUP) – If you enjoy a day out on the lake or by the sea, but prefer to keep your head above water, stand-up paddleboarding may be more your speed. Getting upright on the board is the first challenge, requiring a solid sense of balance along with strength in your core, legs and upper body – and paddling along requires more of the same. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you can adjust your speed for more or less difficulty, and even try striking yoga poses or doing push-ups on the board.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Drumming – While the health advantages of drumming might not be immediately apparent to all, the benefits are real and well-worth considering. Start beating a rhythm out on your bongos, and you’ll soon realise that your new-found hobby both reduces stress and boosts your immune system. It can also help to release anxiety and negative feelings, and give you sense of both being in the moment and connecting with the world around you. Oh, and it’s also fun – a lot of fun. Ask to sit in with a local drum circle, and soon you’ll be taking your bongos with you everywhere you go, while friends and colleagues comment on how chilled, healthy and at peace you seem.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Dance – They say to “work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like nobody’s watching.” Well, in a time when people are just happy to have a regular job and love is as fragile and mysterious as it’s always been, we’re taking the safe option and focusing on dance. For all the macho posturing of most sporting icons, the reality is that the typical ballet, hip-hop or salsa dancer is every bit as strong, fit and flexible as the average sports star – if not more so. While some people are reticent to dance in public, there really is a dance style to suit everyone’s taste – and if you join a class for beginners, you’ll have nothing to be ashamed of if you do trip over your toes – or those of your dance partner. Do your research, take the leap, and marvel as you discover a passion for a new hobby, as well as the immediate (and increasing) health benefits that you’ll see.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Capoeira – This Afro-Brazilian martial art combines dance and acrobatics to spectacular and often hypnotic effect. One glimpse of the repeated kicks, rolls, handstands and spins inherent in capoeira – often executed with great power and speed – and it’s immediately obvious that capoeira is a serious fitness undertaking. It’s the addition of clapping and music, however, that often lures in would-be capoeiristas. Whatever aspect most appeals to you, your curiosity could well lead to a lifetime’s fascination with the discipline.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Kendo – The name may or may not ring a bell, but you will surely recognise kendo when you see it. This modern martial art uses bamboo sticks and armour, drawing directly on the ancient Japanese traditions of swordsmanship – and, in so doing, connects its practitioners with the noble samurai code of bushido, the way of the warrior. While true samurai would cite loyalty, swordsmanship, humility and honour until death as their greatest virtues, kendo practitioners can look to health advantages accrued from what is an intense cardio workout, as well as advanced strength, agility and mental training.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Pole Dancing –  The idea of pole dancing might bring a host of preconceptions, but put the stigma aside, and you’ll begin to see that it also offers a variety of fitness advantages, helping to build overall strength and flexibility. In particular it offers a full-body workout that strengthens your core, gives you a cardiovascular boost, improves balance and, for many, enhances confidence and body image.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Horseback Riding – It’s true that horseback riding can be an expensive pursuit, but there are ways of riding regularly without taking on the cost of buying your own horse or paying stabling rates. And for those who assume that it’s the horse doing all the actual work, riding is a great way to build muscle and improve your natural sense of balance. Plus, you enjoy the humbling privilege of working in harmony with a noble and sensitive animal.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Trampolining – Think trampolining is just for kids? Think again. While children might respond to the obvious fun factor of bouncing up and down, who said adults don’t deserve to have the same enjoyment, too? Trampolining is a great – and underrated – way to get in shape. And best of all, it’s relatively easy for beginners, ensuring your motivation should be high by the time you work up to more complicated moves.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Skating – Got a need for speed? Strap on some wheels and get fit while you ride. Skating and rollerblading provide a great workout for the legs and glutes, all while engaging the core and upper body for balance, incinerating calories and going easy on those joints. Once you’ve hit your stride, make it it social by taking your new skills to the local roller disco, or by finding (or organising!) a skate night in your neighbourhood.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Gardening – Okay, we admit it, gardening isn’t exactly sport, but that’s surely the point. Spend an hour or two gardening, and you’ll quickly realise that you’re working as many muscle groups and getting as much exercise as a session in any gym. Add to that the opportunity to suck up great lungfuls of fresh air outdoors, along with the natural sense of peace that comes from connecting with nature, and you have a complete workout that benefits mind, body and spirit.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Slacklining – Sure, you could go for the predictable adrenaline rush of bungee jumping from the nearest bridge or crane, but isn’t that kind of overdone? Alternatively, you could bring your sports-hating self to try something a bit slower, a bit more fun and a bit more challenging. You got it, we’re talking about slacklining. While it might not look so demanding, walking along a tensioned line of webbing anchored between two points is surprisingly tricky and addictive. Think of it as the sister sport to tightrope walking and, once you’ve got the bug, think about graduating to slackline yoga. Yes, that really is a thing now.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Exergaming – If you’d like to be more active, but you’re just too busy dedicating your spare time to gaming, then why not explore the world of exergaming – after all, who said gaming had to be a sedentary pursuit? For a hardy few, the appeal quickly migrates from curiosity to fun to outright obsession. Classic examples of the genre include the likes of Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution, though some would argue that even Pokémon GO is a kind of augmented reality exergame. Whatever your preference, look for an exergame that genuinely suits you and balances your fitness aims and your gaming preferences.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Trapeze – Sure it requires a certain comfort with jumping from great heights and flying through the air, but the aerial skills you’ll acquire learning the trapeze can offer real health benefits, from greater body strength to flexibility and balance. What’s more, many trapeze artists also talk of the mental benefits they see, ranging from increased confidence to improved focus, concentration and a sense of calm. Whatever you enjoy most about learning trapeze skills, you’ll quickly realise that it also bestows on you an unrivalled cool factor as an added bonus.

Lifestyle

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Fit For Fun: 15 Enjoyable Ways To Get Moving.

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Housecleaning – Hear us out: what if you could have a good time, work up a little sweat, increase your agility and get your space spic and span in one fell swoop? It is possible. All you need are some cleaning supplies and your favourite, most motivating tunes, ideally played at full volume. Simply sing and dance your way through your chores, adding a few lunges, squats, calf raises and exaggerated movements to your regular cleaning routine. Better yet, wear ankle weights, or up the intensity with faster music and try to scrub, sweep and scour at the same rate as the beat. Now that’s what we call double duty.