Workout to help out

[bjjgirl]

I have been thinking about the government scheme I'd eat out to help out and believe that if the same funding was put into healthy activities, grass roots sports, gyms, dance and theatre then people would end up happier and healthier and the sectors would get a well needed boost.

We would build home grown talent, instead of eat out to help out which has little health benefits for great risk.

Any thoughts?

This is such a good idea!

It's a good idea but in reality with social distance practicalities and reduced numbers I'd be really fucked off if my gym did this. There's not enough room for the members as it is.

@ComtesseDeSpair

All for it, would love a reduction on the gym membership I already pay for! Though not convinced it would be that successful, tbh. There are already plenty of cheap or free methods of exercise people could do but generally don’t - including council-run gyms and health facilities which aren’t exactly budget breakers. Many GPs have tried “social prescribing” but take up is generally poor. Most people cite lack of time or lack of confidence as barriers to engagement; and frankly, laziness is probably the largest but unacknowledged reason. I expect it would be like joining the gym in January, loads of people would buy new workout clothes and go for a couple of weeks and then taper off after that.

You'd have to think outside the box. My lovely running group organiser started it because she works in cancer research and saw how normal running groups exclude people. My group is old, fat, unfit, injured and slow. Or any combination! It's incredibly welcoming. People need to 'see' themselves.

Go on the briefing and ask if this can be implemented, sounds good. It could easily be implemented by Move GB who will already have the infrastructure to sign up all the providers.

Great ideas. We really need to encourage better habits to help people through the trauma of the pandemic. I think eating outside is fine and its lovely for people to be able to socialise. I don't think it should be encouraged indoors though and just in family groups. That's not really adding much and it will have consequences.

I really wish this country would invest in proper cycle lanes like in the Netherlands. I would love to be able to cycle everywhere with the kids without worrying about them being hit by a car.

It would be a positive step towards helping the environment too.

I think a start would be to re-open leisure activities that involve exercise before opening other indoor activities other than schools and perhaps non-essential shops. Last time pubs opened before gyms if I recall correctly.

I'd like a proper budget city bike scheme. The social prescribing wasn't offered everywhere and a lack of confidence, rather than laziness is something that stops women entering gyms.

Not every area has free exercise, we need better and more policing. My local country park, which I used to ride through has become a crime hotspot, people have even stopped walking their dogs, in there.

Dance and Martial arts should be made affordable for all. They are realistic ways of encouraging fitness in children.

It would help out the NHS too if lots of us started to get healthier.

I'd love a reduction on my gym membership, but I don't know how many people would stick to going to the gym who don't already. Maybe funding could be geared towards people who don't tend to do much sport already, e.g. couch to 5k groups or adult cycling proficiency classes.

I'd love funding for sports in schools as well. PE put me and plenty of others off of the idea of exercise, but maybe children could be exposed to a wider range, e.g. weight lifting, ice skating, kayaking. Then they'd be more likely to find a way to keep fit that they enjoy.

I’d love something like this - make it fashionable to exercise amongst everyone. I know exercise is pretty fashionable amongst young city dwellers, for instance, but they need to target older/middle-aged/unfit folk and try to normalise exercise for all ages and fitness levels.

Superb idea to help a battered sector as well as mental and physical health. It could be really steered towards outdoor activities too. Running clubs, kids clubs, personal trainers, dancing groups could be taken outside and with restrictions easing could be moved back inside. Grants for extensions or reopening of outdoor swimming pools. Would be amazing.

I'd also like to see girls fitness/sports done better. The whole bloody outside of my DD's school is taken over by football. Boys crashing about while the girls are relegated.

Constant focus on competitive team sports misses so many children and most girls. Climbing, hip hop dance, yoga, non-competitive running, skate boarding, skipping... there's so many outside the box things that would help foster lifelong fitness.

@Coolerthanapolarbearstoenails

It's a good idea but in reality with social distance practicalities and reduced numbers I'd be really fucked off if my gym did this. There's not enough room for the members as it is.

Yep, I agree.

It's a great idea, but I'm not sure there is enough capacity - especially in some locations.

I think they should bbe digging outdoor pools everywhere!

Excellent idea OP. Contact Sport England/your MP/ anyone with power who might listen!!

YY @Respectmyauthoritah Because we have done nothing or havent given up anything to help the NHS for the past eleven months.

If someone wants to get healthy they should do it for themselves not to please other fuckers. If you do it for someone else like to please a man for instance it doesnt work. Why on earth do you think it would work if you replace a man with the NHS .

Christ..............its like a cult.

Great idea, as above not to help the NHS but personally. I think we have all done enough for the NHS which is often a shoddy service.

And i dont think it will work if we start blaming people for the effects of a lockdown we didnt ask for. Do that and if we need a fourth one compliance will be low.
Yes i know Boris said he doesnt want to have another lockdown but
a. he has said that before
b. And David Cameron also said he didnt want to cut tax credits.

I work in kids sports, we don’t need to give discounts (we’ve got a very long waiting list) we just need to be open. Most sports providers would say the same.
The eat out thing was done because the govt was worried people would be too frightened to go in pubs & restaurants after the first lockdown. Nobody I know running a keep fit/sports/ training business has had that problem - most of us were incredibly busy when we were allowed to open.

Just compare the profit margins in the fitness and hospitality industries. A Work Out to Help Out scheme wouldn't generate anywhere near as much revenue (in the long-term it would likely reduce the burden on the NHS, but that's an aspect that requires some forward-thinking, which this government is incapable of). Some people enjoy exercise but many more people love eating out and treating themselves.

I think this is a brilliant idea op! Even if it was just making a commitment to be healthier and guidelines on how to eat better and easy exercises to do from home, the healthier we are as a nation, the less at risk we are from covid and other health problems and the less strain there is on the NHS.

@MercyBooth

YY *@Respectmyauthoritah* Because we have done nothing or havent given up anything to help the NHS for the past eleven months.

If someone wants to get healthy they should do it for themselves not to please other fuckers. If you do it for someone else like to please a man for instance it doesnt work. Why on earth do you think it would work if you replace a man with the NHS .

Christ..............its like a cult.

Stop it! 😂😂

@bjjgirl

It potentially would reduce crime and deter young people getting involved with crime, getting them in a sports club

Oh hang on I won't use drugs, I'll go to the local sports club. Said no teenager ever.

@lunapeace

Good idea but it's far too sensible. In my area, we have the outdoor gyms cordoned off, they have even closed the gates to the basketball outdoor area but the high street is full of opened takeaways selling all kinds of s&**@t**!

It's been ridiculous seeing padlocked sports courts and taped off outdoor gyms.

I'm normally bery motivated with exercise and this winter has been so tough. There hasn't been sensible places to get the kids running around as the parks are complete swamps, and there's been very few safe hard suurfaces left for a run around/ kicking a ball.

One inititative that has been successful in this department has been "prescribing" parkrun. It's free anyway and turning up and hanging at the back is lesd intimidating to many than walking into a gym.

Getting exercise opportunities back ASAP will help.