To all of you who will Nordic Walk the Big Half for Silverfit on 4 March 2018: My hat is well and truly off for you. So many of you have been training tirelessly over the past months. In rain or shine, you have been building up your distances, strength, technique, and endurance. I have been watching you with admiration. How you overcame aches and pains, and have learned to…Keep Reading

Deciding to sign up and Nordic Walk the Big Half (marathon) can be an amazing thing to do for yourself. You will raise money for an exciting charity, led by older people for older people, whilst giving you a great reason to get off that couch and stay active this winter. Some things to think about before you decide to sign up for the Big Half Ask yourself the following:…Keep Reading

On Sunday 4 March 2018 the Big Half will take place in London. The Big Half Marathon that is, starting at Tower Bridge and finishing in Greenwich, passing through the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Greenwich. Silverfit, well known to many of our Nordic Walkers, has a limited number of places available. The Big Half aims to be truly global and uniquely local in a celebration of the…Keep Reading

Exercise: A drug-free approach to lowering high blood pressure. Having high blood pressure and not getting enough exercise are closely related. Discover how small changes in your daily routine can make a big difference. Your risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) increases with age, but exercise can make a big difference. And if your blood pressure is already high, exercise can help you control it. Don’t think you’ve got to…Keep Reading

              More and more evidence is showing that sitting for long stretches at a time is not very healthy, to say the least. Sitting for long periods increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and death, researchers suggest. And scientists from Leicester and Loughborough Universities say harm is done even if people exercise the recommended 30 minutes a day. One journalist from the Independent…Keep Reading

              How often do you tell yourself you should do more exercise? And how often have you decided to lose weight, only to crumble at 4 in the afternoon with a big bag of crisps or a donut? We often feel so bad about ourselves. We beat ourselves up because we didn’t call our parents, or because we didn’t do our work right, or…Keep Reading

                                  Here are some of our top tips to help you get the most from your walks, and to walk your way to weighloss… Move more, eat wisely Taking part in a weekly Walking class or Workout Walk is a great way to remind you of your fitness goals too, and how much fun…Keep Reading

Fit and Happy Outdoors member John told me today that he has lost 15 kilo’s since he started Nordic Walking in February. That is almost 3 kilo’s per month! John is sure he could not have done it without his regular Nordic walks. His journey hasn’t always been easy. Before John started Nordic Walking, first his own and later his partner’s health problems had forced him to be quite inactive…Keep Reading

As a child, we learn to let our eyes, ears, muscles, brain, and nerves work together to keep us upright and steady on our feet. But with age, these balancing skills can become less dependable, especially if you don’t use them regularly. According to Age UK, About one-third of people over 65 will fall in a year. And balance is not only important as you get older: falls represent over…Keep Reading

Have a sore knee, ankle or hip? Worried if you can do Nordic Walking? You might find Nordic Walking will help alleviate your symptoms! Knee pain has a number of different causes. There are many things you can do to help knee pain, whether it’s due to a recent injury or arthritis you’ve had for years. According to Arthritis UK, low impact exercise and keeping to a healthy weight can…Keep Reading

You know lack of sleep can make you grumpy and foggy. Research shows that sleep deprivation can also have some unexpected effect on your health. Did you know that sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss increases risk for: Heart disease Heart attack Heart failure Irregular heartbeat High blood pressure Stroke Diabetes More recent research has now also shown that not sleeping enough has a big influence in the hormones that…Keep Reading

I am staying at a friend’s house at the moment. This friend is not only a very inspirational outdoors person who divides her time between sea kayaking, surfing, skiing, snowboarding and her allotment; she is also a book and art collector. Any normal person would not have any time left with all these hobbies, but she is also a hard working medical doctor. Staying at her house means that I…Keep Reading

              There is plenty of research supporting the thought that gratitude can really help you to achieve more happiness. In one particular study, a group of participants was asked to write down five things that generated gratefulness once a week for ten weeks. In the other control groups, participants were asked to list five hassles or major events that occurred that past week. The…Keep Reading

              Have you made a New Year’s resolution this year? Every year millions of people make resolutions yet almost 80% of us fail to achieve them. Most of us strive for unrealistic goals and ultimately set ourselves up for a failure. Here are 5 easy ways that can help you make those changes last: Find other people who are making the same changes in…Keep Reading

Postmenopausal women who walk regularly have less chance of getting breast cancer, scientists have found. In a study of more than 70,000 women, researchers from the American Cancer Society found that those who walked for more than seven hours a week had a quarter less risk of getting breast cancer compared to women who did hardly any exercise. The research, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, used…Keep Reading

Activities such as walking should be prescribed, says Macmillan Cancer Support. Almost 37,000 lives would be saved each year if everyone walked for two and a half hours a week, charities say. Thousands of cases of cancer, heart disease and diabetes would also be prevented if people were as active as doctors recommend, according to the Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support. Calling physical activity a “wonder drug”, their report summarises…Keep Reading

Older men can walk away their risk of stroke, research suggests. Scientists found that walking at least one to two hours a day was associated with reduced stroke risk. Strenuous “power walks” were not required. Length of time spent walking had a bigger impact than the speed of walking. In a study published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, 3,435 healthy men aged 60 to 80 were questioned about…Keep Reading