What are the most popular exercises in the UK

When it comes to health and fitness, the UK is a little bit of a mixed bag. It has the dubious honour of being the fattest nation in Europe. 60% of women are overweight, and 67% of men. Moreover, 29% of women are obese, and 26% of men. With that said, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm for exercise. Prior to the lockdown, the UK’s gym industry was booming, with more than ten million of us having gym memberships in 2019. We’re forever on the lookout for new an interesting ways of getting fit and active. But just which are the most popular?

Walking

Getting from one place to another on foot is among the best ways of staying active. It’s low-intensity, and thus limits the risk of injury. It has a low barrier to entry, too: just about anyone can get started without any instruction. What’s more, it’ll get you from place to place, and allow you to see some of the UK’s more breath-taking scenery.

HIIT workouts

Of course, it’s also wise to occasionally get your heartrate that little bit higher. High-intensity-interval-training involves dividing a given workout session into blocks. In one block, you’ll be getting your heartrate up into zone four or five. In the next, you might be keeping it down in zone two.

Yoga

Given that many of us spend eight hours a day hunched in front of a computer screen, it’s no wonder that we end up feeling niggling pains in our lower backs and shoulders. Yoga provides a systemic means of strengthening weaker joints, and it has a meditative, mystical quality that appeals to many.

It’s often used as a means of complementing more traditional forms of exercise, and as a kind of injury-prevention. Suffering any injury is likely to set back your progress in fitness – particularly if you are subsequently the victim of medical negligence. While a medical negligence claim can help to get you back on your feet, the better approach is surely to avoid the injury in the first place.

Zumba

Zumba is a Colombian dance craze that’s taken the world of fitness by storm. It’s actually a brand name for a specific kind of workout, and comes with a distinctly musical, communal bent – though it isn’t competitive in the same way as a traditional sport might be. It has the advantage of taxing a whole range of different muscle groups, and thus provides a more all-around workout than something like jogging or cycling. Thus, Zumba practitioners find themselves at more limited risk of injury. That said, attempting a particularly adventurous move might still result in a trip to the local A&E.