Why isn’t the government allowing unlimited outdoor exercise?

[Robin45]

Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for seriousness illness as a result of covid. More people are obese than they realise. Why isn’t the government allowing people to lower their risk of serious illness by getting outside for exercise as much as they want provided they don’t mix with others? By locking everyone at home the government is encouraging people to be less physically active and put on even more weight, increasing their risk of becoming hospitalised if and when they eventually get covid. Some people will exercise indoors but a lot won’t.

Eh? There is no time limit on exercise!

1. Allowing people to exercise as much as they want outside will have absolutely zero impact on obesity.

1. People would take the piss.

Why isn't the government buying everyone a Peleton?

At present you are allowed unlimited outdoor exercise as long as you stay local.

@DownWhichOfLate there's no time limit but the rule is once a day.

I agree about encouraging people to lose weight but as other posters point out there isn't a limit I'm aware of? Or do you mean the distance limit?

In England you can exercise outside all you want.

From government website:

Exercising

You should minimise time spent outside your home, but you can leave your home to exercise. This should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.

@Catsneezies - not in England it isn’t.

@Catsneezies

From government website:

Exercising

You should minimise time spent outside your home, but you can leave your home to exercise. This should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.

Should = guidance I think. It's not law.

I didn’t realise there was a once per day limit this time, but I’d assume it’s to stop people meeting up on the streets claiming to be going for a walk, with a barley elevated heart rate. I don’t reckon the police would stop people who were clearly doing proper exercise, alone.

You do not put weight on by not being able to walk all day (there is no restrictions as long as you stay local btw). You put weight on by eating and drinking crap.
Plus there are plenty of exercise you can do from inside the home.

I don’t think the OP has understood the guidance.

People are not obese because of only being allowed an hour of exercise a day.

Unlimited exercise is allowed (in law).

What limit, DH walks about 20 miles a day on average, how much do you want to do

@mynameiscalypso are you saying that because its "only" guidance not law we are free to ignore it then?

There is no one hour limit. The idea is to minimise time spent out of the home and to only leave the house to exercise once a day. It does not say for how long.

As long as you are actually exercising and keeping away from others whilst you do it no one is interested in what you are doing.

[quote Catsneezies]@mynameiscalypso are you saying that because its "only" guidance not law we are free to ignore it then?[/quote]
Yes, if you want to. In the same way that you can ignore the government guidance to eat your 5-a-day. It's not a rule or a law. It might not be the right thing to do but there's nothing in law that says you're only allowed out once a day to exercise.

There is no limit on outdoor exercise.

If I want to go for a run in the morning then fancy a cycle in the afternoon I’ll do it. I think people who complain about people exercising are the ones who never exercise themselves. Oh. And, OP, you can’t outtrain a bad diet. So food is more important in the obesity battle.

Its irrelevant whether it is law or guidance. The rules are there for a reason and I think it is irresponsible to suggest that people should not adhere to the guidance if they don't want to.

The law doesn’t state once a day, for how long or how local. So exercise outdoors as much as you want as long as you keep your distance from others. And for those saying exercise in the house a couple of Joe Wicks videos with no equipment is not enough to maintain fitness levels of of those who run/go to the gym 5 days a week normally! Equipment is sold out everywhere again! People are going out more than once a day because it’s not possible to do all at once, I need to do a long run 3 or 4 times a week to maintain my fitness also have a dog to walk and a baby who I take out for a walk in the pushchair everyday because i refuse for them to be cooped up inside for the next 3 months so once a day doesn’t work for me but I’m putting no one at risk as I keep my distance.

Without meaning to sound judgemental, the people who are so obese that covid is a big risk aren't going to be the ones who want to go out and exercise more than once a day - so that argument is flawed.