Building strength is about helping your body cope better with everyday demands – sitting, standing, lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling. And you can do a lot for your health with very little equipment, space or time. You do not need gym membership, heavy weights or complicated routines. In fact, some of the most effective strength work uses simple movements you already do in daily life.

Key Movements to Support Your Health

• Push movements – using your arms and upper body to push something away
• Pull movements – drawing something towards you, important for posture
• Standing / squat movements – getting up and down
• Hinge movements – bending at the hips to lift safely
• Core stability – supporting and controlling movement
• Leg strength & balance – how we walk, climb stairs and move confidently
• Carrying & holding – real-life strength for everyday loads

Single-leg movements help build strength, balance and coordination. Many everyday activities happen one leg at a time - walking, climbing stairs, stepping off kerbs or moving on uneven ground.

Training one leg at a time helps improve stability and confidence, and can support joint health as we age. You don’t need special equipment or a gym for this to be effective. Try this:

• Stand facing a step, sturdy box or bottom stair
• Place one foot fully on the step
• Push through that foot to stand up tall
• Step back down with control
• Repeat on the same side before switching

That’s a step-up. Start with a low step and focus on steady, controlled movement. As you build confidence, you can increase the height slightly - but every version counts. You don’t need a high number of repetitions for this to be worthwhile. A good starting point is 6 to 10 controlled repetitions on each leg, take a short break, and then repeat.

❄️ Beat the Cold February Challenge: Log 6 hours and get a £60 voucher! Still chilly out there? Wrap up, get moving, and show winter who’s boss — one activity at a time.

📅 February Ten Days Active Challenge: Just ten active days this month. Very doable, very motivating, and a great way to keep momentum going 🔥.

🌊 ACG ARP: Chase the Coast: Inspired by the coast, powered by movement. Run, walk or ride your way through this scenic-inspired challenge.

🖤 Virtual NYRR Black History Month Challenge: Run 28 miles and move with purpose this February.

“What a difference 10 years makes…
Left: 19 stone and #1 in the World on Call of Duty
Right: 3rd place after 250k through the desert in Jordan
And now I’ve ran 80 ultramarathons in 80 days and broken a world record. It’s crazy how life can play out…” – Sam King

Meet Sam King, the British ex-gamer who gained the world record for the most consecutive ultras by a man last December.

King was spurred on to raise money for the charity Headway UK, the brain injury association, after his mum suffered a life-altering brain injury early last year.

Testing his limits has shown everyone, including himself, what he’s capable of. But he recently told Runners World “For most of my mid to late teens, I hid behind a screen... I was 19 stone, the world number one on Call of Duty and completely consumed by gaming... But in reality, I was severely self-conscious about my body, unhappy and drifting through life without any real sense of who I was or what I wanted.

...I knew that something had to change. Running became the first small step in trying to reclaim some control over my life and, over time, those small steps snowballed into something much bigger.”

Congratulations to you Sam, not just on your impressive ultras achievement, but on sharing with others how such an accessible activity like running can help to take control of your life.

- Follow Sam on Instagram & read the Runner’s World interview