Our Health and Wellbeing Coaches are here to help you become more mobile. There is an activity or exercise for everyone and they can help you find yours. This is what people say about our Health and Wellbeing Coaches:

"The service has really helped me get motivated and stick to program to help my overall health and mental well-being. Jac has been an amazing support and helped me feel so much more positive I can achieve my goals rather than feeling overwhelmed which is how I felt trying to do things on my own."

"The level of flexibility and understanding of the unpredictable nature of my medical condition was a very pleasant surprise. Also, the awareness of many groups etc that would be helpful for me and not having to go to the first one my own."

"Being able to talk to someone understanding and impartial about my worries, concerns and issues and receive support and advice in return."

• Ideas to get active
• Explore your local area
• Somerset Activities and Sport Partnership activity finder
• Staying active as an older person and with long term health conditions
• NHS physical activity guidelines for older adults
• Somerset Age UK ageing well - activities and exercise classes
• If you are worried about falls or have had a fall, check out prevent falls

Keeping active is the key to staying fit, mobile and independent. Taking life too easy can actually speed up the slowing-down process of later life. It’s never too late to start being more active or begin an exercise program.

Regular activities can help reduce the impact of several diseases, such as:

• osteoporosis
• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• coronary heart disease
• stroke

Regular activities can also reduce arthritis-related pain, improve sleep, prevent falls and fractures, and improve low mood and memory.

In fact, taking regularactivities is one of the best things you can do to remain independent.

The good news is that any activity is good for you. You don’t need to go to a gym! Try to find things that can be part of your everyday routine, such as simple chair-based exercises, walking to the shops, or things that are fun, such as dancing or playing bowls.

If you haven’t been very active, you should aim to minimise the amount of time spent sitting down for extended periods.

You could do this by reducing the time you spend watching TV, taking regular walks around the garden or street, or swapping a bus or car journey for walking part of the way.

Your next aim should be to increase your activity so you build up to about 30 minutes activity on three to five occasions a week. Each activity should be sufficient to raise your heart rate and makeyou breathe faster and feel warmer.

Examples of the sorts of activity that improve or maintain health include:

• Brisk walking
• Ballroom dancing
• Climbing stairs
• Swimming

You should also aim to undertake activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week, such as:

• doing housework such as vacuuming, washing the floor or cleaning windows
• carrying or moving loads such as groceries
• gardening jobs such as pushing a lawn mower, digging, or collecting grass and leaves
• activities that involve stepping and jumping such as dancing
• chair-based exercises