July – Sports Focus

July – we’re a quarter of the way through our challenge


As we move into our 4th month of the SIL 25k it seems that July is a key month for sport.

Football

The Euros are in full swing with the quarter finals kicking off tomorrow Friday 2nd July and to the delight of England fans we are part of this stage having fought off Germany.

I’m not about to turn football pundit, we’ve got the sports channels for that but did you know that during a football match they travel about 6 -10miles so if you are a keen footballer check out your miles during a match and let us count them towards our challenge totaliser.

Even if you don’t cover as much ground as a professional footballer research suggests not only are you fitter if you take part in team sports (people who exercise in groups do nearly twice as much activity as those who exercise alone), but it’s better for emotional health, too.  A report shows that being part of a team is beneficial to your working life, helping with goal-setting, focus and grit. It also boosts your motivation, makes you happier, improves feelings of social-connectedness and peer-bonding – which all help to reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

Cycling

The Tour de France 2021 has also started and participants will continue to contest the wearer of the famous yellow jersey until 18th July.

Cycling is a great sport option because it is low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.  Cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal and it is good for strength, stamina and aerobic fitness which all help towards your overall physical health.

The greatest benefit for the SIL challenge is that you can rack up lots more miles per hour compared to running or walking.  Our CEO Euan, a keen cyclist, has been totting up his miles on the bike and recently cycled 100 miles in one day.  WOW!

Tennis

The Tennis Championships at Wimbledon have also kicked off, which sees the worlds best tennis players come together to fight for the titles at probably the most famous tennis competition in the world.

In 2020, Fitbit reported that according to their user data, an hour of singles tennis generates around, on average, 10,680 steps, while an hour of doubles tennis generates 7,980 steps. That’s an equivalent of about 4 to 5 miles of running and 3 to 4 miles respectively depending on your stride length.

Whilst tennis is more high impact all the same physical and mental health benefits are true of tennis as well and you’ll tot up the miles without having to travel great distances or even realising.

and lots more

And last but not least the Olympics start! Another event that had be delayed due to Covid will commence on Friday 23rd July. With so many different sports involved, including skateboarding for the first time ever, it’s hard not to be inspired.

So whilst sporting professionals and olympiads take their sports to the extreme we hope you manage to get out and do a little too.  With proven physical and mental health benefits you really will feel better for it – the hardest bit is getting started.

Make it count!

We can’t offer world titles, gleaming trophies or gold and silver medals but we would really like it if you would join us as we take on our own challenge – the SIL 25k.   Join us in trying to achieve 25,000 miles between 1st April 2021 and 31st March 2022 as we celebrate our 25th year of delivering care and support in Herefordshire. We would welcome anyone who is a SIL supporter, Staff, Trustees, people we support, family and friends to take part.

You don’t need an app, you don’t need to run or be a professional – just let us know how many miles (no proof required)  you do each month by emailing sil25k@s4il.co.uk.

For more information on why exercise is so good for you and how you might join in even if you don’t do miles read all about it in The Warm Up

and if you could send a little donation to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sil-25k-challenge to help us raise money for Megan Baker House, our Charity of the Year.  If you would like to know why we are supporting Megan Baker House read more here