A healthier community is breaking down the barriers to triathlon participation


Hi All,

Well done to everyone who competed at the Dawlish Triathlon. Also, to Bev and Becki at St Ives.  And good luck to Rich in his ultra races coming up.

Now it is time to slow down a bit.  Put the feet up and indulge in a fish and chips without having to go for a massive sea swim first.  In the northern hemisphere racing is over until next year (unless you are an ultra runner or something crazy).  So let’s take some time to share our experiences: what fun triathlon training can be.  Why doesn’t everyone do it?  It is good for you, right?
         
                     Physical activity in the UK is on the up according to the Chief Medical Office (CMO).  The CMO report that 36% of all adults are participating in moderate intensity activity at least once a week. The knock on effect being that, there has been a drop of 900,000 prescription items for the treatment of obesity compared to the previous years. Parallel to this, triathlon participation has grown by over 300% in the UK in the last 5 years.  Some specific health benefits of triathlon are:
·         increases in cardiovascular fitness,

·         stronger bones

·         builds and maintains good muscle tone

·         reduced body fat
However, at the same time the National Health Service (NHS) report that the amount of adults with healthy BMI has dropped to just 34% in men and 39% in women and for children age 4 to 5, 9.5% have been recorded as obese.  It is thought that with easy access to cheap, high-energy food that is often aggressively marketed and the high costs associated with sport participation, triathlon could be the less likely option for many.

Some of the barriers for participation in in triathlon and physical activity are:
·         socio-economic barriers – the cost of recreation is prohibitive

·         organizational barriers – a lack of supportive policies, facilities and financial resources

·         communications barriers – information about recreation resources and services doesn’t reach low-income families
In an effort to counter these barriers we are sending you this blog with our action plan for 2016.  We have teamed up with The SportsBug project to help people in West Teignmouth (our base) to improve their health and wellbeing by providing our triathlon coaching services free of charge or at a reduced rate for those outside the local community.

The triathlon coaching will take place at the Teignmouth Lido all through the summer of 2016. The project is designed to educate, encourage and support people to increase their level of physical activity in a sustainable, fun way in order to improve their personal and community health and wellbeing.

You can begin for free straight away by logging in to our resources pages and practicing some of the drills we have demonstrated: www.petewilbytriathlon.com/#!services/cee5

To find out more about SportsBug Triathlon contact Pete: 07722507009

or to find out more about other SportsBug activities contact Aaron: 07799034280

Pass the details on - By signing up to the resource page you will start to receive our monthly blog.  Have you Fish and chips but think ahead to next year and think about what you would like to achieve. 

Happy fish and chips,

Pete and Laura

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