Lichfield fitness instructor warning about dangers of physical inactivity
The West Midlands is amongst the least active regions in the country
Last updated 19th Feb 2025
A Lichfield fitness instructor is warning people in the West Midlands about the dangers of a lack of exercise on the body.
It comes as latest statistics reveal the West Midlands is amongst the most inactive regions in England.
How inactive is the West Midlands?
The region is second only to the North East in the study done by Harlow Leisurezone.
The study asked respondents between November 2022 and November 2023 to rank their physical activity each week.
“Active” equalling 150+ minutes of exercise a week, “Fairly Active” between 30-149 minutes, and “Inactive” less than 30 minutes.
In the West Midlands, a third of respondents confessed to being "Inactive".
Whilst two-thirds sat in the "Active" category.
At a local level, the Black Country ranked the most inactive area of all with 37% of participants claiming they were "Inactive", according to Harlow Leisurezone.
How does a lack of exercise impact the body?
Catherine Stuart runs a fitness class for over-60s in Lichfield called "Move It or Lose It".
She told us why being inactive is bad for the body: "You will lose your muscle-mass, particularly over the age of 50. Regular exercise will slow that down.
"The cost to the NHS is rising, but these are things we can help the NHS with. We can take responsibility and try and reduce our impact by just doing a little bit of exercise," she said.
"I absolutely love my job"
She also told us how exercise helps to keep the rest of the body in order:
"It is about maintaining a well-balanced sense of mental health. If you are feeling stressed, you can go to an exercise class.
"If you are feeling sad or down, you can go to an exercise class and you will meet other people, which will hopefully make you feel better.
"My participants are over 60. Some of them are well into their 90s. They have been coming for years and made friends with each other. I absolutely love my job, they make it so fun," she said.