Children, Families and Young People (CFYP) Advice and Signposting
Help with your body and mind
Because of Covid-19, life haschanged in lots of ways for everyone. For some of us, it can feel really difficult not being able to get out and do things - especially if those are the things that help with our mental health.
That can make us feel really unmotivated to keep active - but this could lead to us feeling lower in mood, more anxious or stressed and lower in energy.
So, this booklet is designed to help you get up off the sofa, or out of your bedroom or off the X-Box and do something physical to support your mental health.
It doesn't matter if you haven't done much exercise before - we'll start off gently and you can progress to the harder ones if and when you feel ready.
Before we start, I want to tell you that you are important and you deserve to feel good, in your body and in your mind.
Exercise is a brilliant way to connect with your body in a non-judgemental way. It releases feel good chemicals in your brain and can really help with feelings of anger, hopelessness, stress, sadness and anxiety.
But like learning to play the guitar, it takes a lot of practice!
You might like to set yourself a daily or weekly goal For exercise - if you have a smartwatch or an app on your phone, you can track your progress.
Before you start exercising, you will need:
- Comfortable, loose clothing
- Water (in a bottle is best but a cup is fine)
- A stop watch (you can use the timer on our phone)
- To make sure you have enough room around you
- Stretching
- 5 Minute Exercise Sets
- More Challenging Sets
- Description of Exercises
The exercises here are a guide, we are not qualified fitness instructors so cannot assess your individual fitness or ability to do these exercises.
Make sure you check with your GP surgery if you have underlying health conditions or have any worries about exercising.
1. STRETCHING
Let's start with simple stretches
- Stand with your arms by your sides and take a deep breath in for four seconds, then breathe out for four seconds. Do this four times.
- Lift your arms in the air as though you are trying to touch the ceiling.
- Feel the stretch in your arms and back. If you are able to, go up on your tiptoes whilst stretching your arms. Hold this for two breaths.
- Hold your right arm out straight in front of you. With your left hand, hold your right elbow and pull your arm across your body keeping your right arm straight. Take two deep breaths in and out for four seconds whilst you hold this stretch.
- Now swap arms so that you are stretching your left arm. Hold it for two deep breaths in and out.
- Now lift your right arm up, straight in the air, keeping your arm close to the side of your head. Bend your elbow so your hand is touching your back. Place your left hand on your elbow and push back, gently, until you feel the stretch. Hold this for two deep breaths.
- Now do the same with your left arm and hold for two deep breaths.
- Step forward with your right leg into a lunge (keeping your body vertical from the waist up, lower yourself down so that your right leg is bent at the knee to around 90 degrees. Your left leg should also be bent. You should feel this stretch in your upper legs. Hold for two deep breaths.
- Now swap legs for a lunge on your left leg and hold for another two deep breaths.
- Now, sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Keeping your legs straight, lean forward with your arms out stretched and reaching for your toes until you can feel the stretch in the back of your legs. How close can you get to touching your toes? Hold this for your two deep breaths, in and out.
2. EXERCISE SETS
Here are some simple 5 minute exercise sets to keep you fit and healthy. You can do these exercises anywhere, on your own or with people at home. If you don't want to do the full five minutes, you can do the four exercises in the set as many times as you can. (See Page 4 For exercise descriptions)
Have your stop watch/phone ready and keep it somewhere you can see. When you feel confident you know how to do each exercise in the set, start your stop watch.
Set 1 - Legs
- 20 start jumps (jumping jacks)
- 10 lunges (5 on each leg)
- Running on the spot (30 seconds)
- 10 squats
And repeat!
Set 2 - Arms
- 5 press ups
- 10 shoulder press*
- Star jumps
- 10 bicep curls
And repeat!
*If you don't have weights, try bottles of drink, heavy
books, tins of food or be creative witlh (appropriate) heavy things in your house.
Set 3 - Cardio
- 20 Star jumps (jumping jacks)
- 10 Squat thrusts
- 20 High knees (running on the spot)
- 10 Squat jumps
And repeat!
Set 4 - Abs
- 10 Sit ups
- 10 Double leg raises
- 10 Toe touches
- 30 Second plank (if that is too easy, increase the time)
And repeat!
3. MORE CHALLENGING SETS
These exercises are designed to be more challenging on your body and the duration is longer (10 minutes) - but you can increase or decrease the time (or have a 10-20 second break after the 5 exercises) if you like.
Feel free to use weights for the exercises when you can - if you don't have weights try using 7 or 2 litre drink bottles, heavy books or tins of food.
Set 1 - Cardio
- 20 Treadmills
- 40 Star jumps
- 7 0 Squat thrusts
- 70 Burpees High Knees (30 seconds)
And repeat!
Set 2 - Abs
- 20 Russian twists
- 10 Double leg raises
- 20 Flutter kicks
- 20 Rbs C!Jcle
- Plank (60 Seconds)
And repeat!
Set 3 - Legs
- 20 Weighted Lunges
- 15 Squat jumps
- 20 Weighted squats
- 20 Rstride jumps
- 20 Treadmills
And repeat!
Set 4 - Arms
- 15 Press up side raise
- 20 Tricep dips
- 15 Side raises *
- 15 Tricep overheads *
- 20 Bicep curls *
And repeat!
* Weighted exercises
Bonus exercise:
1 minute wall sit
4. DESCRIPTION OF EXERCISES
Star jumps
Start with your Feet slightly apart and your arms by your sides. Jump and bring your legs out to the side (more than shoulder width apart), and raise your arms to shoulder height at the same time. Jump again and bring your arms and legs back to your starting position.
Squats
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Bend your knees to 90 degrees, keeping your back straight and your head facing forwards (as though you are sitting on a chair). Slowly straighten up again.
Lunges
Step forward with one of your legs into a lunge (keeping your body vertical from the waist up, lower yourself down so that your front leg is bent at the knee to around 90 degrees. Your back leg should also be bent.
Shoulder press
Stand with your feet slightly apart and your elbows bent, holding your weights at your shoulders. Lift your weights up so that your arms are straight up in the air. Slowly return to your starting position.
Bicep curls
Hold your weights in your hands with your arms by your sides. Keeping your upper arms still, bend your elbow and raise your forearms towards your shoulders, slowly drop back to your starting position.
Squat thrusts
Start in the press up position. Keeping your hands on the floor, jump towards your elbows with your feet, tucking your knees. Jump back to the press up position.
Squat jumps
As you come up from the squat position, jump and stretch your arms above your head. As you land, come back down into the squat position. Repeat!
Double leg raises
Lay on the floor, arms at your sides and legs straight. Keeping your back on the floor, lift your legs up and bring to 90 degrees, then lower back down. As you lower your legs, try to keep them from touching the floor. Raise them again and repeat.
Toe touches
Lay on your back with your legs straight up in the air. Stretch your arms towards your toes and push your shoulders up to touch them. Lower back down and do it again.
Plank
Start in the press up position and lower your elbows to the floor. Keep your back straight and don't let your hips drop.
Press up side raise
Do a press up, when you go back to the starting position, hold your weight and raise your arm straight to the side. Lower and do a press up, then do the same on the other side.
Russian twists
Sit on the floor and raise your legs off the floor. Holding your weight, twist your upper body to one side and then back to the middle, then the other side.
Treadmills
Start in the press up position. Bring one leg towards the elbow on the same side, knee bent. Bring leg back to the start and then do the same with your other leg. Do this as quick as you can.
Flutter kicks
Lay on your back with your legs straight and your arms by your sides. Slightly raise your straight legs off the floor and kick (keeping your legs straight) as if you were doing backstroke.
Burpees
Do a squat thrust and as you go back to the starting position jump to your feet and do a star jump.
Abs cycle
Lay on your back with your legs raised. Pedal your legs in the air as though you were riding a bike. Keep your shoulders off the floor and lean towards your knee as it comes towards you, then lean to the other side as your other knee comes towards you.
Astride jumps
Stand with your feet together. Jump to the left and then back into the middle, repeat on the right.
Tricep dips
Sit on the edge of a chair (sofa is ideal). Place your hands on the edge and bring your legs out straight so you are holding yourself off the floor. Dip your body down by bending your elbows, then straighten to bring yourself back up.
Tricep overheads
Like the stretch at the start with your elbow bent and your hand touching your shoulder. Hold your weight in the air with your arm straight, bend your elbow to lower your weight down your back and then straighten your arm again.
See our page nsft.uk/CFYPadvice for links to useful websites and other resources for managing anxiety.
You may find some of our other Workbooks helpful too.