Being physically active is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health. Just 30 minutes of brisk activity every day can improve your health, significantly and reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes or stroke. Anything that increases your heart rate, makes you breathe a little faster and feel warmer is good for you. Any kind of exercise will do this, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
It’s a good idea to know what you’re capable of, and the Community Health Team can offer a detailed fitness test to assess this. This includes:
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measuring your height and weight;
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measuring your lung function;
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measuring your flexibility, grip strength, body composition and aerobic capacity.
The team also offers a wide range of activities to suit everyone. New faces are always welcome – we aim to provide opportunities to be physically active for all.
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Twelve bicycles are located at Gateshead International Stadium for individual and community use. The team is available to support people who want to start cycling.
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Introductions to the Council’s gyms are available at the following facilities:
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Tai Chi sessions are run at Birtley and in central Gateshead in partnership with Age Concern.
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The Community Health Team is part of Gateshead's 'Opportunities for Active Lifestyles Scheme' (GOAL ). The Scheme provides physical activity recommendations to encourage people to lead more active lives.
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A 'Physical Activity Motivator Scheme' (PAMs ) offers buddies for people over 50 who would like to be more active but aren’t sure about the first steps. They will help you to start walking, swimming or exercising on one of our local activity programmes.