About the best thing you can do for your health is to be physically active. Exercise, even as simple as walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, can keep you from gaining extra weight. More importantly, walking regularly can reduce your risk of a host of chronic diseases, from high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke to diabetes, colon cancer, depression, and osteoporosis.
New York City provides many opportunities to be physically active. That’s why our administration is launching a ‘Make NYC Your Gym’ campaign.
You don’t have to join a gym to be physically active. Instead, make NYC your gym by taking advantage of everyday opportunities to increase physical activity. For example, walk or bike to work or school or to run errands. Take public transportation and get off a stop or two before your destination and walk the rest of the way. Climb the stairs instead of using the elevator or escalator. Or – even better – take advantage of our many playing fields, basketball and tennis courts, and other athletic facilities.
The city is full of free and low-cost fitness opportunities. You can learn about them on the City’s Web site, nyc.gov, or by calling 311.
You can go online and find organized running clubs or exercise classes, or create your own fitness event through Facebook. You can make that fitness event private and invite just your friends, or make it public and open it up to anyone who wants to join you. Want to get fit during your lunch break? Create a walking group and invite colleagues. Looking to increase your activity on the weekends? Start a running group in your neighborhood. It’s never been easier to get fit and healthy with family, friends, colleagues, and fellow New Yorkers.
The City Health and Parks Departments have organized fitness activities for every day this week in each borough, all designed to demonstrate just how easy it is to be fit and active in New York City.
The ultimate goal of “Make NYC Your Gym” is to encourage New Yorkers to be physically active all year round and to help all our residents live longer, healthier lives. So the next time you head out the door, consider the world of healthy possibilities that await you. Make NYC Your Gym.
