TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS HEALTH

MARTIN MURRAY

DECEMBER 25TH

Christmas day is a day of family and many of us cannot have Christmas with our loved ones this year so instead of that being a negative, let us make it a year to remember. Get your immediate family together for a Christmas morning walk to an elderly relative’s house and do some carol singing in their front garden to spread Christmas cheer and make them feel special. It is a great way to get some exercise in with the Family and spend time together.

DECEMBER 26TH

No one really does much this day so why not get some healthy vegan recipes and make some healthy food with those you live with whether that is your partner, friends or family. You will pick up a new skill, get some great food to settle down and watch a movie with and all without worrying about having to work of the calories.

DECEMBER 27TH

It’s Sunday so feel free to sleep in to noon and then take a trip out to explore the coast and go for another walk or a jog.

DECEMBER 28TH

Instead of waiting until the New Year, get started now. Sign yourself up for a Bayburn Fitness taster session and pop down for a session. Feel free to hang around after and have a chat with the instructor about your goals.

DECEMBER 29TH

Do something Kind for someone. Whether it is giving to charity, giving someone a lift, buying them a gift. Giving can be a great boost to your mental health.

DECEMBER 30TH

Take a day to look over your successes and obstacles over the last year. Look at your New Year’s resolutions from last year. How have they been successful or how have they changed. Identify how you have grown and what you have learnt from obstacles and what you should improve.

DECEMBER 31ST

Write out your new year’s resolutions for the coming year and draw a map of how you can achieve them.

JANUARY 1ST

I hope to be releasing the first episode of my Podcast so check out the details on my Instagram AwayWithTheFairiesAWTF. You will also be able to join me on a virtual jog of Manchester.

JANUARY 2ND

Get yourself a gym membership sorted or if you already have one, get yourself down to the gym. I go to Pure Gym and my Personal Trainer is Stephen Irvine. I recommend a personal trainer to keep you going so you do not become one of those people who joins at new years and never goes again.

JANUARY 3RD

Set yourself a Fitness Challenge for January. In October for example, I started with 100 Push-ups for 10 days, which is a great starting point. For more advanced, try below for everyday in January. • 18 Minute AMRAP (Try for 3 rounds ) • 50 Low squat tap out • 40 Marching Plank • 30 Body Weight Thruster • 20 Crunches • 10 squat thrust -> Frog Squat

JANUARY 4TH

Get yourself a diet plan. Speak to your doctor about what you might need to include based of your health records. Your trainer should be able to help if you provide them with a current weekly record of your diet so they can advise changes.

JANUARY 5TH

Start the 2 litres of Water a day challenge.

2020: A YEAR OF PROGRESS

Now that we have looked at our own health and fitness, let us look at how LGBTQ Sports have developed this year. The Elite Hockey League celebrated their first Pride event, which I was happy to witness at SSE Arena.

FEBRUARY

Gus Kenworthy won his first Gold Medal as a Great Britain skier, setting him on route to complete for Great Britain in the next Olympic Games.

MARCH

Coronation Street focused on a storyline of James Bailey, an LGBT character struggling with balancing his coming out with his football career.

APRIL

Rugby star Levi Davis informed his team he was bisexual and celebrated being welcomed with love and support.

MAY

Megan Rapinoe awarded best in Sports Shorty Award and is included in Time Magazines 100 most influential people.

JUNE

Craig Donald, Chief Information Officer for The FA, who identifies as gay wrote about how The FA is working to make football more inclusive and a game for everyone.

JULY

GNI Magazine celebrated the local LGBTQ community highlighting methods they used to improve their health and fitness in lockdown.

OCTOBER

Announcement of the first ‘World Gay Boxing Championships’.

DECEMBER

Na Gaeil Aeracha is founded becoming Irelands first explicitly LGBTQ Friendly team which will initially be based in Dublin.