‘Tis the Season to Stay Active & Healthy (in body & in mind)

It’s beginning to look a lot like the holiday season, which means more family time, baking, watching classic movies on TV and cozy nights by the fire. Baby it’s cold outside and the COVID-19 pandemic will certainly pose new challenges for Canadians this December with the closure of gyms and other indoor fitness facilities. This is why it is especially important to get creative with your workout routine this winter.

A healthy active lifestyle is essential for your physical and mental health and offers numerous physiological and emotional benefits. Unfortunately, the Canadian Health Measures Survey reports that only 7% of kids and 15% of adults are meeting the recommendations for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (60 minutes per day for children, 150 minutes per week for adults) (Colley et al., 2011). Being apart from family and friends this holiday season will surely increase emotional distress but incorporating exercise into your routine can aid in reducing those COVID-19 blues! Physical activity is proven to improve mental health through allowing increased blood flow to the brain. This assists with reducing anxiety and depression while simultaneously improving mood, self-efficacy and other cognitive functions (Sharma et al., 2006).

If the uncertainty and chaos of this holiday season has you struggling to stay active, focus on fun activities that will motivate you. Getting outside even in the cold weather is important for your mental and physical health! To help you, we have created our version of the BINGO challenge; the KIN-GO challenge. This is a creative way to get you moving this winter- and you can even challenge friends and family to see who the first one is to complete the whole card!  

Read more: Exercise for Mental Health

Read more: 10 years of measuring sedentary behaviour and physical activity in Canada