The New Year has arrived and with new beginnings comes new resolutions. What better way to step up to the challenge than to get active on your way to work!
This January forget about your car and kick start your year in the healthiest way. Here are 5 ways you can get active on your way to/from work:
1. Swap four wheels for two
Take advantage of Nottingham’s ever-growing and improving cycle infrastructure and cycle to work; you’ll find yourself breezing past the lengthy rush hour queues. You don’t have to be super fit or an experienced cyclist to make the swap; electric bikes are a great option for a commute – read Eric’s story here.
This past year, we’ve invested a lot to upgrade and improve our cycle network, with much more to come in 2020, to encourage you to swap your car commute to bike. We’ve also got the cleanest city air in the UK, so do your part in keeping our emissions down and swap carbon for pedal power
Is your workplace not fully equipped to facilitate riding a bike to work? Our Workplace Travel Service is there to provide support for any business operating within the Nottingham City area to help get staff moving. Get in touch and your workplace can benefit from cycle lessons and buddying, maintenance classes, free onsite repairs and more.
2. Get off one stop early
If you catch the bus or tram to work one simple way to get some exercise is to get off one stop early and walk that extra bit further. It will only add a few minutes onto your journey but the benefits will far exceed this. Especially for those in office jobs or who spend the majority of the day sat down, that short walk into work provides the perfect opportunity to stretch your legs and get your blood pumping without making a major change to your daily commute.
Or if you want to challenge yourself a little further why not try a bus hike? With a bus, you don’t have to always walk in a circle. You just work out your starting point on a bus route, and then walk to your destination on another bus route. All you really need is public transport, some imagination and a map!
3. Take the stairs
You’ve woken up late and haven’t had time to get off the bus one stop early, but don’t worry, there’s still time to fit some extra steps in before you get to work. You may have heard it before and thought what difference can that make, but trust us, taking the stairs instead of the lift really does make a difference!
Climbing the stairs challenges more muscles than walking on level ground, and a lot more than standing still in a lift. Taking the stairs is one small step, but those few extra calories burned and muscles activated can make a bigger difference than once thought.
4. Step to it
Step out of the office on your lunch break and take an adventure to see some of Nottingham’s sights and hidden secrets. Get some fresh air while you increase your daily step count and get to know the city better. If you’re based in the city centre, use our guide for a step to step breakdown of just some of what Nottingham has to offer.
Set yourself a challenge to see how many places you can visit in one lunch break!
5. Walk home
While you may be strapped for time in the mornings and unable to find a spare moment to fit in some exercise, what about waiting until the end of your day to get active? Catch the bus or tram to work in the morning, and walk home at the end of the day when time’s on your side and you can really take a moment to get your heart rate up. If you live too far to just walk, use a combination of walking or public transport; some exercise is better than none.
You don’t have to do these things every day to get active. Swapping just two days a week is enough to make not only a difference to your health, but also the health of our city; choosing to be active for a few days a week can drastically reduce carbon emissions and congestion in the city.
So step up to the challenge this January and get active, and together with Nottingham, we can all keep moving.
