Be Active, Stay Well and Support a friend with mayathon!

mayathon is a new, free app to help people feel healthier, happier and more connected during these tough times. The app allows you to Buddy-up (virtually) with a friend, family member or colleague and support each other to do 26 minutes of exercise a day!

This buddy system is at the heart of mayathon and the reason for the name, with the 'may' of mayathon standing for 'me and you'. The 'athon' part of the name refers to a marathon – although in mayathon you only do 26 minutes rather than 26 miles.

There's a lot of studies which shows that people who do physical activity most days improve their overall wellbeing too, and now that we are all having to adapt to live with social-distancing, the need to stay active and connected has never been greater.

Having a buddy is a great way to keep you motivated and make sure that you do your 26 minutes of activity each day!

The reason for the 26 minutes over 26 days is firstly, the UK's Chief Medical Officer recommends that we should do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. If you do mayathon every day, you'll reach 182 minutes a week and, even if you were to miss a day, you'd still be up at 156! The second reason is there is lots of research that suggests that it takes at least 21 repetitions of something for you to form a habit and be likely to keep doing it!

It is super easy to join in! Download the free mayathon app to your phone from either the Apple or Google Play app stores. It's easy to register and the app helps you to log your daily activity & mood and to support your buddy. There will also be some challenges along the way too!

So start today as you mean to go on! As soon as you complete your first 26 minutes of activity your Buddy will receive a notification inviting them to send you a boost, which in turn should encourage them to do their 26 mins! Get involved!

For more information click here!