Summer is the perfect time of year to spend a little more time outside and to be more active, but the busy nature of modern life means that it is often difficult to fit physical activity into our days.
But the good news is, brisk walking counts as a form of physical activity and just 10 minutes a day can make a huge difference to your health, both in the short and long term – it gets the heart pumping faster, can make you feel better, more energetic and improve your mood.
Over time, brisk walking can help to lower the risk of serious illnesses like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It's for these reasons that healthcare professionals are encouraging moderate intensity physical activity, like brisk walking, in order to improve their patients' health.
To help you on a journey to a healthier you, Public Health England is encouraging adults to download the free 'Active 10' app to help complete your 10 minutes of brisk walking daily and to gradually build this up to multiple 'Active 10s'. The app is the first of its kind to show how much brisk walking you're doing and when you are doing this at a high enough intensity and long enough to get health benefits.
So, this summer, why not join the 600,000 people who have downloaded the Active 10 app so far and get walking to a healthier you?
There's even a free employers toolkit with everything you need to get you and your workplace moving. Why not get your workplace involved, see how many Active 10s you and your colleagues can do get involved in the Active 10 Challenge on Workplace Challenge?
The Active 10 challenge on Workplace Challenge enables individuals and workplaces to keep track of their walking and how they might fit more into the day.
The challenge is set to run from 4th - 30th June. Download the Active 10 app to keep track of all your brisk walking and how many active 10s you can do. Use the Workplace Challenge app or connect to Fitbit to keep track of other participation in sport and physical activity.
Search 'Active 10' online to find out more and to download the app.
More information: http://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/active10
