5 ways to be an Ambassador for Activity

I recently attended a webinar hosted by CIMSPA exploring changing trends in participation in physical activity since the pandemic. Analysis by Sport England suggests, unsurprisingly, that those who were inactive, or only moderately active, before the pandemic are even less active now. Perhaps lower levels of commuting has meant that even the walk between the bus stop or station and the office has disappeared?

Sport England found that the biggest barrier to taking up physical activity is that people feel they are already too unfit or they are too tired with their day’s work and busy schedule to motivate themselves to add something else to their day. So, if the exercise they used to get by simply going to and from work, or to the shops at lunchtime, disappears they may not feel they are able to find something else to replace it.

Conversely, those who were already active became even more so during the pandemic. Perhaps this is also related to less commuting and more working from home giving people the freedom to take a walk or a run at lunchtime or straight after work. For those who already enjoyed being active they have found more time to spend doing it.

One of the saddest outcomes of the pandemic, in my opinion, is that we are generally engaged in a much smaller range of activities than we were before the pandemic. This is likely a result of so many routes to activity being cut off with gyms, pools and clubs closed for large chunks of time. As many of these clubs and activities return they may need to make a big effort to attract people back.

This is where we can all make a difference and actually influence the trends we’re seeing in physical activity participation:

1 - Champion New Year goals: we may not want to think about it but it’s actually only 6 weeks until the start of 2022! New Year is a time when lots of people make resolutions to become more active so why not make some yourself and try and recruit friends or family to join in.

2 - Wax Lyrical: about your own exercise or sport related successes, especially how great they made you feel. Whilst it’s understandable that we want to express disappointment about the outcome of a race, or a niggling injury that’s getting us down, this language all reinforces the perception that many who are not physically active already have, “exercise is bad for you”. We can all help to make the language around physical activity and the benefits it brings us more positive.

3 - Share and share alike: do you have opportunities to share information about activities in your area. As well as posting and sharing your own activity on social media maybe you could do the same for other things going on in your community. Perhaps you can like the local Rugby club’s Facebook page or share a new Yoga class that’s started at your local hall. It all helps get the information circulating and opens up new routes for people to find something they will enjoy.

4 - Acknowledge that the barriers are real: those of us who work in the sport and fitness industry have a huge part to play in making activity accessible to everyone and recognising that for some people to even step through the door of a gym or studio is to already have crossed an enormous mental hurdle. So, rather than being the PT who showed a colleague of mine around a gym and told her “don’t worry we’ll soon get that extra weight off you” (she hadn’t mentioned wanting to lose weight and was just looking around before deciding whether to join... needless to say she didn’t!) we can quietly acknowledge the effort that person has made and support their ongoing choices.

5 - Actions speak louder than words - this relates to number 4 in our list but extends far beyond those who work in the fitness industry. Are you the person who welcomes newcomers to your club, do you smile at those you see jogging the streets around your home, do you wait patiently to overtake cyclists and give them lots of room on the road? If the biggest barrier to taking up physical activity is a feeling that we are already too unfit, this must be driven by a perception that exercise is only for certain people. We can change this by encouraging everyone who makes the effort to do something, simply by showing our solidarity and support with a smile, a look or an encouraging word.