Why Drive 5km to the Gym, to Run 5km on a Treadmill?

As a part of our blog post series we are looking in to the ideas and questions that often arise when thinking about sustainable travel.

A common theme that is often raised concerns the need to travel greater distances to access the amenities that you want, as was discussed in our previous explainer on the 15-minute city.

In this regard something as simple as excercise has come to the forefront of this debate.

As we all know, getting your 150-minutes a week moderate excercise and 75-minutes per week vigourous excercise will improve your mood, help you be focused and reduce your risk of other illnesses such as heart problems and strokes. But the debate here is where this excersise takes place.

Modern gyms provide comfortable and well equiped spaces to train, with some even opening 24-hours per-day. But now-a-days gyms are getting larger, more commercial and they are being built further away from where people live. Such as, in retail parks or the corners of industrial estates.

This means people feel forced to drive somewhere to take exercise (often sitting in unhealthy, smog churning traffic jams on the way there). A better option is available, there are lovely parks and beautiful countryside around your own neighbourhoods that are ripe for exercise, exploration and enjoyment.

With summer coming around the corner, now is the perfect chance to have a run or cycle around your local area, knowing that it will be light late into the evening and most importantly the weather will be warm. Unfortunately however, it is Britain so we can’t make any promises about the rain!

Exercising locally can introduce you to parts of your neighbourhood that you never knew existed. Why not see if there is a local Walking, Running or Cycling group in your area? You could save on the Petrol and Gym membership by exercising closer to home.

Check out your specific site webpage (by clicking on ‘selecting your estate’ above to find out more for all things walking and cycling!