How rail can help you achieve your new years resolutions

8th January 2018

You commute everyday. Use it to your advantage.

Each year 1/3 of us will pick New Year’s resolutions to exercise more, stress less, eat healthily spend more time with family and friends, and improve our health. Here are a couple of ways the train can help you achieve theses resolutions.

So how can rail help you achieve your resolutions? Well…

 

Exercise more

In 2017 there was £9.6m invested in in improving cycle parking and cycle facilities at stations to ensure that more stations were equipped with Cycle Hubs with CCTV security, bike repair stations, changing rooms etc. There are now over 76,887 cycle spaces across England. Cycling helps to improve your cardiovascular fitness and has also been proven to lower fatigue, so change how you start your daily commute and improve your fitness levels at the same time. Find out about your station facilities here.

 

Stress less

Use your train trip to prepare yourself mentally for the day ahead and reclaim some ‘me-time’. Spend 5-10 minutes doing a guided meditation. Using mindfulness has been scientifically proven to help you improve your mental wellbeing and reduce stress levels. Try and fit it in to your journey home too, so you can really switch off and spend quality time with your family and friends.

 

Eat healthy

Use your commute to organise what food you need to buy and what healthy meals you’re going to have for the week ahead. Once you’ve done that you can spend your extra time doing some mindfulness and subtle stretches.

 

Spend more time with Family & Friends

Did you know you can take advantage of 2FOR1 on lots of great attractions when you travel by train? If the answer is no then in 2018 make sure you join the 1m+ people that did. Some of the most visited Days Out Guide attractions in 2017 were the London Eye, ZSL London Zoo and Madame Tussauds. Find out where you can go here.

You can also save 1/3 on most rail fares in Britain when you travel using a Railcard. A Family & Friends Railcard will save you an average of £131 a year on travel for just £30. And the more you travel, the more you save! Find out which Railcard is best for you here.

 

Improve your health

The latest ONS stats on sickness absences rates revealed that over 30.8m work days were lost due to musculoskeletal problems. We tend to hold a lot of tension in our neck muscles so whilst you’re on the train sneak in some discreet stretches. Stretching is just as important as lifting weights or getting your heart rate up. Our quick guide to stretching on a train:

 

     1) Sit up tall.

     2) Breathe in for one long inhale.

     3) As you exhale draw your right ear down towards your right              shoulder. To increase the stretch, you can place your right hand          on top of your left ear, so that the weight of your hand will                    deepen the intensity.

     4) After 10 breaths, repeat on the left-hand side.

     5) Listen to what your body is telling you and seek medical                  advice if you have any concerns.

 

So, there you have it. Make sure you share your pics of you spending more time with your family and friends by contacting us @_railcards Twitter and @railcard Facebook.