Make sport part of your everyday activities. It’s so easy!

Every January we make New Year’s resolutions, promising to get fit and do sport, but lack of motivation, tiredness, boredom and laziness are sometimes get the better of us we end up giving up.

To mark International Day of Sport for Development and Peace we would like to remind you of the importance of making sport a part of your routine, because of the infinite benefits for your physical and mental health.

• It improves posture and reduces pain.
• Strengthens bones and tones muscles.
• Improves lung capacity.
• Reduces the risk of cardiac and circulatory problems.
• Improves the digestion and intestinal transit.
• It helps to control weight.
• It improves attention and concentration.
• You’ll be in a better mood.
• You’ll sleep better.
• It improves memory and coordination.
• Raises your self-esteem and ability to deal with obstacles.

To turn sport from a one-off event into a lifetime habit, you need to do the activity every day for at least 21 days. According to the experts, this is how long you need to do any activity such as sport and other hobbies (reading, knitting, cooking or even getting a child to like a new food) in order to transform it into a habit.

That’s how you can transform sport into a lifetime habit.

• Give yourself 21 days to decide whether you really like this activity and whether it is the right one for you. It doesn’t matter if you decide to switch and do something different.
• Decide whether you want to go it alone or join a group.
• Think about what you really need: toning, slimming, releasing stress, improve your breathing, feeling good or sleeping better. Everyone has different motivations and you need to identify what yours are. Don’t do sport because of social pressure. You should be convinced that you want to do it.
• Be realistic with your objectives. If you’ve never been a runner, don’t try to run a marathon within a month. Little by little, you’ll improve, but if you get frustrated too quickly you’ll give up before you’ve even tried.
• Use the 10% formula. Increase the time and intensity of the exercise (for example, the weight of the dumbbells or the distance you run) by 10% every week. That will give you enough time to get accustomed to the change.
• Ask for help. Don’t think you are clever enough to use all the machines at the gym or do all types of sport without getting some instruction. Safety is a very important consideration.
• Plan how long you are going to spend on these activities and then schedule them at times that suit you. The recommendation is that you do at least 30 minutes if you want to make it a habit, and occasionally do two hours.
• Repeat the chosen timetable. If you chop and change whenever you feel like it, the activity will seem less important and will become secondary. Be responsible.

“Sport has the power to harness the potential of people, communities and nations. It encourages personal growth, is a major force in eliminating gender barriers and can build bridges across lines that might otherwise divide.”

Ban Ki-moon