Men’s health – how you can do your bit to stay healthy and raise money for charity at the same time

In aid of Movember, Simon shares some tips on how to stay healthy and raise money for men’s health charities.

By Simon Underwood

Stoptober, Movember, Dry January – 3 months of the year dedicated to keeping yourself healthy (and finishing the year with a Freddie Mercury-esque tash!) Having worked as a personal trainer for a year, I can tell you that most men who walk into a gym will ask to be turned into Brad Pitt from Fight Club, that was the pinnacle of a healthy male specimen in their eyes! I would hand them the tough workout program and see their faces drop to the floor.

However if we look at the male population as a whole, most of us would just like to be a bit healthier, a bit fitter and maybe a bit richer. All of these goals are achievable by making some straightforward life choices. Ones that are far easier than an hour of cardio a day and three weight training sessions a week!

Stoptober

Stopping smoking for just a month can save you approximately £182.50 and 50 hours of your life! If you stopped this October, why not keep it going for a year and save £2190 and 600 hours! Smoking is estimated to cost British Business’ £8.4bn, so by stopping you’ll not just be improving your health, you’ll be doing your bit for the economy too!

Movember

Grow a moustache or some other fancy facial hair and raise money and awareness for Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer, Men’s mental health and suicide prevention. This is something you can do that requires very little effort but elicits questions and sparks conversation. Some of us will have to put up with some ribbing from our other halves, but who knows, you may stumble upon a cool new look (yeah right). In with all of this is the benefit to yourself of doing something for charity, which in turn can improve self-confidence, create a sense of purpose and therefore make you feel happier and even combat depression. Also you can smugly sing the moustache song from 1000 ways to die in the west. (See YouTube for a laugh!)

Dry January

Stop drinking alcohol for the month of January. Most of you will need this to recover from the office Christmas party, family Christmas get togethers and New Year’s Eve – so it makes sense really! A survey of people who took part in Dry January found that 79% saved money, 62% had more energy, 49% lost weight while 65% of participants cut down or stopped for good.

Make a good contribution to society, become part of a healthy and happy workforce, keep yourself fit and healthy and be glad that your body works and you can help keep it that way.

If you’d like any guidance or advice about maintaining a healthy happy workforce contact HR180.