Latest news with #activeLifestyle
Malay Mail
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
‘Keeping fit together': King joins palace staff for 2.5km walk around Istana Negara grounds
KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — His Majesty Sulltan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, today graciously took part in a Brisk Walk programme with staff of Istana Negara, in an effort to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. According to a post on Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar's official Facebook page, the casual activity was also aimed at strengthening the bond between His Majesty and the staff of Istana Negara. 'His Majesty walked a distance of 2.5 kilometres around the perimeter within the grounds of Istana Negara. 'The programme, organised by the Istana Negara Welfare and Sports Club (KEKSIN), was joined by about 200 officers and staff of Istana Negara, the palace security team as well as facility management personnel,' the post said. Among those who took part were Comptroller of the Royal Household Tan Sri Azmi Rohani; Grand Chamberlain of Istana Negara Datuk Azuan Effendy Zairakithnaini; KEKSIN chairman Zulkifly Yunus, as well as senior officials of Istana Negara. — Bernama
The Independent
11-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Exercise in later life can reduce risk of death by 40 per cent
A study has found that exercising throughout adulthood can reduce the risk of early Death by 30% to 40%. The research, which reviewed 85 existing studies, indicates that any physical activity is beneficial, and it is never too late to adopt a more active lifestyle. People who consistently exercised had a 30-40% lower risk of dying from any cause, while those who increased their activity levels saw a 20-25% reduction. Even switching from an inactive to an active lifestyle reduced the risk of Death by 22% compared to remaining inactive. Experts emphasise that physical activity improves physical function and has anti-inflammatory effects, supporting World Health Organisation guidelines for weekly Exercise.
Globe and Mail
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Globe and Mail
The beautiful game, at walking speed
Aidan Butterworth's voice booms across the soccer pitch at Toronto's Cherry Beach as his players warm up. 'Just shake it up,' he tells them. 'Go! Go! Go! 'Keep moving on your feet, don't stop.' The moving feet aren't moving all that fast. Nor is the pace of play. That's all by design. Mr. Butterworth is an assistant coach for the Toronto Walking Soccer Club, also referred to as the Loons. They're one of 20 teams from across Canada. Across multiple age groups, the club has more than 100 members from all around the Greater Toronto Area. The coach knows his way around a soccer pitch. He spent four years playing for Leeds United in England and was the club's top scorer in 1983. The game he has loved his entire life didn't fully love him back, though. 'I've had two replacement hip surgeries and another on my knees,' he said. 'My playing days are behind me, but I get a lot from walking football.' The appeal of the game is similar to that of pickleball – a more contained, less physically demanding alternative to tennis. Pickleball Canada claims 1.54 million people are playing the sport in this country. Walking soccer – invented in 2011 in England, where there are now more than 700 clubs and 200,000 players – has experienced an international boom over the past decade. In Canada, six provinces have launched multiple active programs that continue to grow in participation. 'People aren't ready to give up soccer when they get a little bit older,' said Patrick Yao, founder of the Canadian Walking Soccer Association, or CWSA. 'Their passion for the sport is still there.' The rules of walking soccer are designed to minimize the health risks to participants and increase accessibility. The pitch and goal size are smaller than in conventional soccer, the ball cannot be kicked higher than two metres, throw-ins are replaced with kick-ins, and goalkeepers are not permitted to leave their zones. There is no running or jogging allowed, regardless of whether the player is handling the ball or not. What counts as running or jogging is dependent solely on the interpretation of the referee. 'The rule is that you're supposed to plant your feet,' Mr. Butterworth said. 'The player must always have at least one foot in contact with the ground.' Club founder Kerrin Hands said the golden rule is 'If you can salsa, you can do walking soccer.' The Loons' over-50 team gathers every Thursday evening for two hours of intense training drills, finishing off with a 30-minute game. Before starting, the players are reminded to enjoy themselves, but to go hard. No swearing, though. A 2024 survey by the CWSA revealed that more than 60 per cent of respondents discovered the sport through family or friend referrals, followed by a close split between news and social media. Mr. Hands founded the Toronto Loons three years ago, after stumbling across the sport in Spain during a family visit. The native Englishman played soccer at various competitive levels in South London, but moved into coaching when he relocated to Canada. His efforts to grow the club have included reaching out to non-walking soccer organizations with programs for those aged 40 and up, inviting them to join sessions and hosting pop-up events. Still, his most effective strategy for securing sign-ups is ensuring that everyone who steps onto the field leaves with a positive experience. 'The way most people find out about the sport is through word of mouth,' Mr. Hands said. 'People have enjoyed it so much, they go around and tell their friends.' Andrew Hilton also played competitive soccer for most of his life, and once joined an over-50s competitive team in Denmark for a brief period. He returned home to Stratford, Ont., during the pandemic, but the team he used to be a part of was no longer there. He began searching online for ways to play in the area. That's how he found walking soccer. 'It's more fun than I thought. It's better exercise than I thought, and I was reconnecting with people I played with when I was in high school. I just really enjoyed it,' Mr. Hilton said. 'I get to play the sport I love and see people I know.' Mr. Hilton's commitment runs so deep that he makes the almost three-hour trip from Stratford to Toronto's Cherry Beach field at least once a week. His teammate, Faisal Ahmed, knows the route to the field with his eyes closed after three years of weekly drives there. A 2020 review of research on the sport determined that there are health benefits connected with walking soccer, and that it can help build social connections. Another 2022 study highlighted the importance of socializing and developing new friendships that came out of the sport. Among the Loons, there is living proof of that. Mr. Ahmed wears his Apple Watch for every session to track his heart rate, calories and all other important health information. He underwent heart surgery five years ago and followed a strict training program as part of his rehabilitation. 'What I've found through walking soccer is that I can still maintain a heart rate above 145 beats per minute for 45 minutes,' Mr. Ahmed said. 'If I can do that three to four times a week, that is beneficial for keeping my heart healthy.' Mr. Butterworth said he has seen the sport do incredible things for the quality of life of some of the players who have trained under him. He credits walking soccer for improving his own mental and physical well-being. 'Seeing the joy on people's faces and telling me about the health benefits really inspires me to keep building and trying to get this sport out to even more people,' he added. This October, Canadians are headed to Spain to participate in the second edition of the Federation of International Walking Football Associations' World Nations Cup with four age groups, including a women's over-50 team. The Canadian men's over-60 team finished fourth in the inaugural 2023 cup, and it was a 'no brainer' to ensure qualification for this fall, Mr. Yao said. A total of 63 teams from 25 countries will gather to compete for medals, three times the number of teams that participated two years earlier. Canada will face powerhouse soccer countries Spain, England and Italy. Canada's team will be made up of players from eight clubs from Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. 'Our claim during the bidding process is that there would be a legacy left after this World Cup,' Mark Coleman, founder of Walking Soccer Team Spain and director of Spain Walking Football, told The Globe and Mail. 'Hosting this global event is going to boost participation around the world to millions of people.' The Loons are gearing up for the fall competition, but enjoyment remains the main goal. 'Our objectives are to create a very positive and happy environment where people can thrive,' Mr. Butterworth said. 'When the players come down for two hours, the goal is that they enjoy it and feel a benefit, and maybe they go home a bit tired.'
Daily Telegraph
27-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Telegraph
Woman reveals humiliating moment that led to 40kg weight loss
Don't miss out on the headlines from Fitness. Followed categories will be added to My News. Welcome to You Got This, weekly fitness series featuring stories and ideas from real women who've experienced it all. A young woman has revealed how she struggled with her weight since she was a child — and the one thing that changed her life. Liliana Lerch, from the Gold Coast, struggled with her body image and relationship with food for as long as she could remember. 'I remember I had a personal trainer at 10, and just always struggled with my weight,' she said. 'But when I was 15 it started to snowball and get quite bad. I felt like I was getting bigger, despite living an active lifestyle.' Ms Lerch said she was always 'emotionally connected' to food — eating when she was sad, happy or anxious — and would 'come back to bingeing'. When she got her licence — and had access to a car — she would go out, pick up food and hide the packaging in her car. She said it meant she could 'get away with it more'. Ms Lerch always wanted a 'quick fix' to her weight, and would often give up after two weeks. She felt like she tried every diet, and was even contemplating medical intervention. She had a lot of moments where she knew her life had to change — but it was surprise skydiving tickets that was the catalyst for a life change. 'I remember we were going, and I had to pay extra. I was weighed in front of everyone. It was the most humiliating thing — I was stressed about it the whole week before because I knew,' she said. Liliana Lerch, from the Gold Coast, struggled with her body image and relationship with food for as long as she could remember. Picture: Instagram/@ 'It was a big ego hit. I was like, 'No, you're not even healthy anymore.' I was at risk of getting diabetes. I was puffy and inflamed and they thought I had PCOS. I found my health was starting to deteriorate.' It was at that point, she realised that she needed more than a quick fix. She needed to overhaul her entire lifestyle, she said it started as an accident. She did 75 Hard. She didn't complete it — or lose any weight from it — but it set her up for some better habits with exercise and it helped her stop her bad association with food. 30kg difference between the two images. Picture: Instagram/@ Essentially, she and her partner would go for a daily walk for coffee — but they wouldn't leave until at least mid-morning. It sparked a regimen of intermittent fasting for Ms Lerch. 'The diet was the hardest thing for me — I always loved walking, and living near the beach it's easy to, but I pretty much started intermittent fasting. I then noticed I lost 5kg,' she said. 'I started to focus on it more mindfully, and have some more structure with my meals and food. I found it helped me be more balanced.' At the end of 2024, people started to notice Ms Lerch's then 30kg weight loss. 'At the start, I didn't really believe them. But then I compared photos side-by-side and I was like 'Oh my gosh, I look so different.' Ms Lerch now. Picture: Instagram/@ She said she needed a lifestyle overhaul. Picture: Supplied She then did an eight week challenge, losing another 10kg, and her confidence started to rise. She felt the best she ever had, feeling strong and fit in her own body. 'I feel like we're so critical of ourselves as humans, it's hard to look back and recognise how far we've come,' she said. Ms Lerch, who posts to TikTok under the name @lilslerch, said she has always loved sharing things. Her most viral video was sharing the things she's noticed since losing weight such as feeling temperature changes more and that people are nicer to her. She felt like she'd never seen her body type represented online, so it was nice to be able to be that for other people. 'If I have a message, it's make it into a lifestyle and fall in love with the journey — find things that work for you, and what you enjoy,' she said. 'I hate going to the gym but I like going to pilates and walking, so that's my thing. Incorporate the foods you love into your diet — you need to have balance all around.' Originally published as Woman reveals humiliating moment that led to 40kg weight loss
South China Morning Post
17-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- South China Morning Post
How to age well and stay happy in retirement? 67-year-old chooses active, exciting life
For Alfred Yu, retirement was the beginning of an active, purposeful life. Growing older had sparked new passions in him and retirement allowed the Hong Kong-based 67-year-old to explore new possibilities, develop different skills and share them freely with others. After a career running his own training centre focused on computer-aided design and graphic design, Yu's retirement in 2014 marked a turning point. With more free time and no financial pressures, and his only child becoming more independent at age 16, Yu had the opportunity to rediscover his own interests. 'Retirement doesn't mean resting. It means having the freedom to do what you love,' he said. Yu bikes in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, in 2022. Photo: courtesy of Alfred Yu He took up camping, cycling and running – activities he had never prioritised in his youth. 'I was never athletic, but I liked swimming. Running and biking were new challenges.'
