On Friday, Slovenia celebrates the Slovenian Sports Day. On this day, we invite everyone to put on their sports shoes, get on their bike, go for a walk on a nearby hill or do any sports activity. Everything counts! Sport strengthens our body and mind and bonds us.
Slovenian Sports Day is celebrated on the day when the rowing duo Iztok Čop and Luka Špik and the shooter Rajmond Debevec won the first Olympic gold medals for independent Slovenia in Sydney in 2000. Since then, our many athletes have put us on the world map with their successes. And not just that, they motivate us to participate in sports.
23 September is also the first day of the European Week of Sport encouraging Europeans of all ages to lead a healthier and more active lifestyle. It was launched in 2015 in response to the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of the population. The WHO’s recommended activity level for an adult is a minimum of 2.5 hours per week. However, Eurostat* data show that 48% of people do not exercise at all and 18% exercise below the recommended level, but it should be noted that data concern only leisure-time physical activity.
I’m sure you have first-hand experience of how physical activity, whether it’s walking, exercising or working in the garden, makes you feel better, lifts up the spirit and brings satisfaction despite fatigue. Physical activity helps us maintain our mental health. We at Novak M encourage our employees to lead a healthy lifestyle, which shows in the participation of sporting events such as the Franja Marathon and the Ljubljana Marathon.
Sometimes it can be hard to find time for sport in our busy daily lives, but we need to think bigger. Let’s take the stairs instead of the lift. Walk or cycle the short distances to work or to the nearest shop instead of driving a car. This can be a substitute for our daily physical activity. This way we will do more not only for ourselves, but also for the environment!
* Eurostat: Health-enhancing physical activity statistics (May 2020) Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Health-enhancing_physical_activity_statistics&oldid=554010#Health-enhancing_physical_activity
