As we move into the cold, wet, sometimes freezing and snowy winter months everything starts to slow down, which can include our motivation to continue participating in regular physical activity and sport. Shorter, darker days don’t help with this either. Gone are those long, summer evenings where we feel like we have endless time for everything. Whereas in the winter, time seems to disappear all that more quickly and we can be more inclined to hunker down and spend our evenings cosy on the sofa. It is important to use this time to rest and recoup our bodies, and allow them time recovery from, what for some people, will have been a very active, and outdoors, summer. Winter allows us vital downtime, and it’s also important that we’re aware of those environmental factors, not least the cold, that can put pressures on our bodies and make activity – especially if done outdoors – all that a bit more challenging and indeed exhausting.
However, it is important to maintain a regular physical activity routine throughout the winter months. For some, there may only be minimal changes to their regular training routine. For others they may reduce the intensity, or swap to a different location, for example, outdoor swimmers might move into the pool once it gets colder. Others might switch to a completely different set of activities, for example, summer rock climbers, suddenly transform into winter skiers! With this change in mindsets and approaches to activity, it can be a great time to pick up a new activity. This got me thinking about what sort of physical activities that might be a bit different, perhaps a little alternative, that would be great to pick up and learn during the winter months – with the view, of course, to them becoming a regular part of an active lifestyle.
Horse riding
Horse riding has been part of my life since I was little. I loved Saturdays spent at the stables – first a lesson, followed by mucking out, and then carefully polishing up the tack. I loved the farmyard smells, the sounds of horseshoes clipping on the yard, and being deep in the Northern Irish countryside. Fast forward to the current day, in my 40s, and nothing has changed. I continue to love all these things, albeit now in the Scottish countryside, and continue to ride on a weekly basis. Horse riding has long been associated with health, well-being, and therapeutic benefits. Both regular and occasional horse riding is associated with, for example, improved mood, improved physical condition, and increased social well-being. These benefits have been explored and reported across a range of patient and non-patient populations, as well as for caregivers. One key message is that you don’t need to be on the horse to experience these benefits, you simply need to spend time with horses, for example, helping out at a local Riding for the Disabled group.
Getting into horse riding is probably the most difficult part of the process. If you don’t live near a stable offering lessons, it can be a difficult activity to access. Many adults report feeling that it’s more an activity to start as a child. It’s also an activity that is a bit more expensive, potentially making it more of a luxury treat, than a weekly essential. It’s also important to recognise that it is not for everyone – and that’s ok.
For those who are keen, winter is a great time to start taking lessons – most stables will have a schooling arena that is undercover and floodlit, allowing for lessons during the evenings, and even in the worst of weather. My personal recommendation for lessons in the Edinburgh area is Lasswade Stables – they offer lessons for adults at all levels and the instruction is outstanding and expertly tailored to each individual in the lesson. Which is a perfect approach to accommodate for those who are not able to ride on a weekly basis. Of course, the biggest issue with getting into horse riding is that eventually, you’ll want your own horse. Once that feeling takes over, it is extremely difficult to shake it off! Unfortunately, for most people, horse ownership, is unrealistic – for many reasons, the main ones being the cost and the time needed to look after a horse. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Enter Pentland Ponies, a horse share scheme based at two sites – the Pentland Hills and East Lothian, and run by Louise and her family:
“Horse riding is a wonderful form of exercise for the whole body and is extremely beneficial for mental health. There’s something about being around a horse that quiets the mind, tires the body and is just good for the soul – there’s no problem that can’t be mulled over while mucking out a stable or taking a peaceful ride out in the countryside. Unfortunately, horses are very time-consuming, expensive to keep and require good overall knowledge of how to look after them, so once you’ve been to a riding school and mastered the basics but yearn for more, what do you do? A horse share offers hands on experience with the horse practising the practical stuff like grooming, tacking up, riding out on the roads and local trails, paddock maintenance and general horse management without the commitment of actually having to own a horse full time. A horse share means you can look after and ride the horse once or twice a week and the rest of the time the owner or other sharers share the care and costs of the horse which is a great way to build the knowledge, skills and confidence needed before taking the leap into purchasing your own horse. Pentland Ponies started out as just five ponies five years ago and has steadily grown into a full time enterprise with two premises (Currie in Edinburgh and Gifford East Lothian) offering well-schooled horses and ponies for part share. We have some groups of sharers that didn’t know each other outwith Pentland Ponies who now meet every week for a hack and a stop at the local coffee shop. Looking after horses will definitely help keep you fit – looking after them is physically challenging – but you might just make some new friends too!”
Strength and conditioning
One of the things I hear about a lot in my day-to-day work researching physical activity is how we should all be doing regular strength and conditioning as part of our routines. The UK Chief Medical Officer recommends that adults should ‘develop or maintain strength in the major muscle groups. These could include heavy gardening, carrying heavy shopping, or resistance exercise. Muscle strengthening activities should be done on at least two days a week, but any strengthening activity is better than none’.
Increasingly, we are seeing women participate in a range of physical activities that are focused on building strength, and across my own friends and people I know – there is definitely a move toward these activities in the late 30s and 40s. People who were once keen ultra and endurance athletes start to find these distances difficult to maintain, and are turning to strength-based activities instead. For those women in their 20s and 30s, there is also a growing interest in strength training, and it is great to see this now occurring from a younger age – since it will filter into the older years and potentially mitigate some of the bone density issues we currently see in peri-, pre- and menopausal age women. I am of course surrounded by women who are active in all sorts of ways, including two who take part in strength-based activities on a regular basis. They share their experiences below.
Anna Boath, Research Fellow at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre talks about bodybuilding: “Bodybuilding is a type of weightlifting, where the main goal is to build muscle through a mechanism known as hypertrophy. Hypertrophy occurs when you repeatedly challenge a muscle(s) over time, this leads to the muscle to adapt and grow. Other forms of weightlifting such as Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting are largely focussed on developing strength, whereas bodybuilding seeks to build as much muscle as possible. These different goals are achieved through different training approaches such as the exercises selected, the number of repetitions of the exercises, the number of times you train a particular muscle per week and how close you train to what is referred to as “one rep max” (this is the highest weight you can successfully and safely lift for a given exercise).
The personal wellbeing benefits I have obtained through getting involved with bodybuilding have been increased discipline, learning new skills and stress management. The long-term benefits of regularly lifting weights include improved bone density, this is particularly important for women given the risk of osteoporosis post-menopause, improved metabolic health and supporting mental wellbeing.
I got into bodybuilding by taking an intro to weightlifting course where I learned the basic techniques of the squat, deadlift, and bench press. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in taking up a form of weightlifting gets some sort of coaching to learn good technique to prevent injury. Bodybuilding is a form of resistance training; this means that weights/resistance are applied to muscles to improve strength and/or size. Alternative forms of resistance training can also include yoga and Pilates; which offer many of the benefits of weightlifting, with an increased focus on balance and mindfulness. Yoga/Pilates is also good introduction to resistance training as well as a useful adjunct to regular weightlifting.
I thoroughly enjoyed the aspect of skill development and strength that comes with weightlifting and continue to train 4-5 times per week after 7 years. I have recently competed as an amateur bodybuilder, both nationally and internationally, in the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation. This helps to provide longer term goals to my training.“
Marie Mclaughlin, Teaching Fellow at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre tells us about Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting: “Powerlifting is a sport made up of three main lifts: squat, bench, and deadlift. Each of these lifts is designed to test maximal strength in a specific movement. The squat involves lowering the body with a barbell placed on the shoulders until the hips drop below the knees, then standing back up. The bench press requires lying on a bench and pressing a barbell upwards from the chest until the arms are fully extended. Lastly, the deadlift consists of lifting a barbell from the floor to a standing position, with the knees and hips locked out.
Powerlifting is generally focused on building maximal strength across these movements, and the goal in competitions is to lift the most weight possible for one repetition in each lift. While the sport may seem simple in concept, it demands proper technique, discipline, and consistent training to develop strength over time. Powerlifting helps build confidence, strength, and resilience, making it a rewarding pursuit.
Olympic weightlifting is made up of two lifts: snatch and clean and jerk. The snatch movement involves lifting a weighted barbell from the floor to overhead in one movement. The clean and jerk involves the barbell being lifted from the floor to the shoulders (clean) and the lift is completed by moving the weight from the shoulders to overhead (jerk).
All of three of these movements are highly technical and can take years to master. Olympic weightlifting requires not only strength but speed, mobility, balance and co-ordination (as well as a lot of patience!). There are many benefits to participating in weightlifting, including improved strength and mobility, as well as self-confidence.
Whether you want to compete or simply enjoy participating in a fun and challenging sport, the University of Edinburgh has the largest weightlifting club in Scotland which caters for all levels and abilities in both powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting. If you are interested in trying out either powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting, please contact the team for more information: weightlifting@ed.ac.uk“
Fly Fishing
Fly fishing is not a topic that comes up a lot in the physical activity for health research literature. However, there are evidenced benefits of interventions that have been developed for, as examples, breast cancer [1, 2], and following trauma [3]. I don’t get to spend anywhere near as much time fly fishing as I would like to, however on my most recent trip, I spent some time monitoring and reflecting on the health and wellbeing benefits that I felt that I experienced during the day. Firstly, the physical. The walk to and from the reservoir was over roughish farmland, and there was some climbing over styles. Beyond that, much of the day was spent on my feet, but relatively stationery. And although there is a good deal of upper body movement involved in fly fishing, I found it more like light physical activity, and so would suggest this is more of a rest day activity than one that will result in the same sort of physical benefits one would get from, say, running or swimming.
Then to the mental wellbeing benefits. Well – being in nature for a start. A whole day in nature, what is not positive about that?! I always describe the feeling I get when fly fishing as ‘zen’. And coupled with the effects of nature, at the end of the day I felt calm and focused. As for the social wellbeing benefits, fly fishing can be a very solitary activity – something I quite enjoy, given how busy the rest of my life is, or it can be peppered with social interactions from other fishers. My takeaway was that even on a frosty winter day, I would happily do it every day to gain the positive all-round wellbeing benefits.
All that said, getting into fly fishing is not always easy, and certainly for women looking to get into fly fishing there can be barriers to doing so. Suggestions for where to start: 1) Scottish Ladies Fly Fishing run events from development days to national competitions; 2) Damsel Fly Fishing, run by Sue MacNiven, offers bespoke, one-to-one fly fishing tuition for beginners to advanced.
Having had a lesson with Sue, I can verify she is an excellent teacher, graceful fisher, and great craic!; 3) Green Highlander, run by Peter Smith, offers guided fishing trips and lessons in the Highlands. Peter taught me the art of fly fishing many years ago when I lived in Inverness; 4) Burnhouse Lochan Fishery situated in the central belt of Scotland, and run by Scottish International, May Anderson, is an excellent place for year round fishing, as is 5) Kailzie Fishery located just outside the Scottish Borders town of Peebles, and offers lochan fishing and a beat on the River Tweed.
[1] Burrell, D.N., 2024. Managing a Breast Cancer Crisis Through Innovation, Community Engagement, and the Expansion of Fisheries Management Education Programs. In Using Crises and Disasters as Opportunities for Innovation and Improvement (pp. 233-247). IGI Global.
[2] Shelton, D.L., 1999. Healing retreat. American Medical News, 42(31), pp.23-23.
[3] Craig, P.J., Alger, D.M., Bennett, J.L. and Martin, T.P., 2020. The transformative nature of fly-fishing for veterans and military personnel with posttraumatic stress disorder. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 54(2).
This will be my last contribution to the Scottish Women in Sport blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading my Wellbeing Edits during this past year. Thank you for taking the time to do so – and thanks to all those who have contributed to the Edits during this time.
My regular spot will be taken over by Alice Fox. Alice recently completed the MSc Physical Activity for Health programme, which is delivered by staff based at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre.
Being familiar with Alice’s work, I have every confidence you can look forward to more great content.
A big SW/S thank you to Dr Sarah Morton for all her work, dedication and knowledge that she has brought to the wellbeing edit. We look forward to seeing what she does next, you can follow her here.
We look forward to welcoming Alice to the team in the New Year.