Aviva joins forces with Joe Wicks to help improve the nation's health

Aviva's health insurance business¹ is joining forces with Body Coach Joe Wicks and Strava to launch a new challenge designed to help encourage the nation to take steps to improve their health and wellbeing.

Aviva's recent research found that around seven in ten (69%) people said they try to look after their health by exercising but know there's more they can do.²

When asked what's preventing them from exercising, a third of people (33%), put it down to being too tired and a similar number (30%) said that other priorities mean there's not enough time to fit exercise in. Around two in five (41%) said that they lack motivation to exercise and just over one in seven people (15%) didn't know where to start.

Aviva's new initiative is designed to encourage everybody to kick-start new healthy habits by taking just 10 minutes a day to focus on their wellbeing. Joe Wicks is on hand to offer tips and support along the way. Progress can be tracked and shared with others via Strava - the digital community for active people. Joe will also be sharing his own progress via the app and on Instagram and offering fresh ideas and words of wisdom to help provide that much-needed motivation.

The #MoveWithAviva initiative reflects that everyone has different levels of fitness and a variety of health and wellbeing needs. People can choose what activity they do and when they do it. To complete the programme people simply need to log 300 minutes of physical activity during April. This could include anything from walking, gardening, jogging, swimming or taking a moment of mindfulness to aid their mental health.

Dr Suba M, medical director at Aviva Health UK says: "As a nation many of us are living longer but not always living healthier. We're seeing an increase in conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, musculoskeletal problems and mental health concerns.

"In today's busy world, we often forget to take time to look after our health. There are often other priorities, or we feel too tired and lack motivation. The good news is that adopting healthier behaviours today could help improve our future wellbeing.

"Exercise can take many forms. It's not just things like cycling, swimming and running. Anything that involves movement such as gardening, cleaning, stretching, or going for a gentle walk can count too.

"Just 10-minutes' exercise a day could make a difference to an individual's health. It can boost 'feel good' hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins helping to lower our stress levels, improve our mood, regulate appetite, improve digestion and aid memory. It can have a positive impact on our heart health, reduce our risk of obesity, muscle aches and back pain and help improve our sleep quality, which is so important for our mental and physical wellbeing."

Talking about the challenge, Joe continues:

"Making small changes can make a big difference to our overall wellbeing, just ten minutes of activity a day could help transform our mindset and really help us form long-term healthy habits. Taking steps to stay healthy now could have a positive impact on our long- term wellbeing and challenges like #MoveWithAviva can help us see how within reach it is, even if it might seem out of reach right now.

"We hold our future is in our own hands, most of us are focused on looking after our loved ones - but are we investing enough time in our own wellbeing? Possibly not. The aim is to set a little time aside for ourselves, to ensure we are here to protect and support for as many years as possible."

The #MoveWithAviva wellbeing challenge runs during April and is free to join. People can find out more and sign up for the initiative by visiting aviva.co.uk/movewithaviva and joining the Strava Club to log their progress.

People who complete the 30-day #MoveWithAviva challenge, which runs from 1 April -30 April 2024, will be in with a chance of winning one of the following prizes - a wellbeing break (£5,000 Secret Escape gift card), 10 x £100 Amazon vouchers and twenty 12-month subscriptions to The Body Coach App. Winners will be chosen at random. Terms and conditions apply. People must be over 18 to take part.

The new initiative with Aviva follows on from several previous challenges Joe has put to the nation, including his '1,000 burpee challenge' last November, his personal '24-hour fitness challenge' for BBC Children in Need, and his 14-day HIIT Workout Plan - not forgetting the incredible work he did to keep UK children participating in PE classes during lockdown, offering free sessions online.

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References

^{1 Aviva Health UK Limited}

^{2 The research was conducted by Censuswide with 2010 UK Respondents (Nat Rep) between 18.03.2024 - 20.03.2024. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles and are members of The British Polling Council.}

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Aviva plc published this content on 02 April 2024 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 02 April 2024 14:20:05 UTC.