The average Brit walks fewer than 1,000 steps per day, just ONE TENTH of the recommended number, according to new research.
A nation-wide study of Brits has revealed the true extent to which our lifestyles have become sedentary, with almost 1,000 emerging as the average steps taken per person in the UK, despite advice from doctors and health experts to take at least 10,000 steps daily.
And when it comes to going to the gym or working out – Brits have all the excuses, with being unable to find our earphones, being too unfit to work-out and something good on the telly among the most common excuses Brits give for not wanting to go to the gym, according to a new study.
Worryingly, of those polled, nearly two thirds (65 percent) said they take their health for granted and need to look after their body a bit more, while 19 percent said they always get their partner and colleagues to fetch things for them.
Similarly, the research showed the average Brit is sedentary for up to six and a half hours a day, with one in five describing themselves as ‘very lazy’.
Ten percent of Brits think there is little point in doing exercise of any sort because Christmas is around the corner and nearly one in twenty won’t go and work-out if it’s happy hour in their local pub.
The study was commissioned to help raise funds to find a much-needed cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – a muscle wasting disease that effects 1 in 3500 Brits – with most boys only living until their mid-twenties.
Alex Smith, the founder of Harrison’s Fund, whose son was diagnosed with the disease in 2011 said: “We can all relate to that feeling of not wanting to drag ourselves to the gym – especially on these cold nights. But people suffering with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy simply don’t have that option. Muscle degeneration is an inevitability and something we are raising awareness and funds to try to cure.
“What we’re saying with this campaign is simply, don’t take your muscles for granted. if you’re going to skip the gym this week, then why not get a better excuse. As is clear from these statistics, we can all struggle to get motivated – so why not make a good excuse this week and help turn a little bit of laziness into hope for someone else.”
Three in ten said they will use any old excuse for getting out of exercise with a popular excuse being that their phone is flat so they won’t have any music to listen to.
But a confident one in twenty reckon they look great anyway so they don’t need to bother with the gym and many said they don’t want to get too buff.
Not surprisingly then, the average Brit gets of a gym session at least four times in a typical month.
Three in ten of the 1,500 adults polled said they have not got much use out of their gym gear and sports equipment – with the average adult confessing to wasting £176 on unused gym memberships and high-end workout gear.
According to the study, one in five claim they “always” take the lift rather than the stairs, while a quarter of Brits will always park as close to the shops as they can in a bid to reduce the distance they need to walk.
While the majority drive to work, more than one in ten (11 percent) said they would rather miss their bus or train than pick up speed and run to catch it.
To get a good excuse to skip the gym today and help Harrison’s Fund fund a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy visit www.gymexcuses.com
TOP EXCUSES TO GET OUT OF EXERCISING
1. Too tired
2. Too cold to venture outside
3. I’m so unfit, I won’t be able to do anything
4. I’ve got the start of a cold, so I don’t want to make it worse
5. It’s winter so no one sees my body anyway
6. My favourite TV show is on
7. Christmas is around the corner so there’s little point
8. I’m too hungry
9. I want to be thinner before I go to the gym
10. There is no point because I’ve stuffed my face today
11. My gym buddy can’t make it, so I won’t go alone
12. I look great anyway, so I don’t need to go
13. I need to help the kids with their homework
14. Gym gear is in the wash
15. The dog can’t stay home alone
16. Need to be rested for a big night out
17. I ran for the bus today so that’s my exercise for the day
18. It’s happy hour in the pub
19. Gym gear is too tight
20. My friends are in worse shape than me so that’s ok
21. I can’t find my earphones
22. My phone is out of charge, so I have no music
23. I don’t want to get too ripped
