MILLIONS of Brits are being told to get outdoors and brave the rain and cold to boost their mental health this winter. One in three adults say they are feeling more miserable and stressed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and are spending more time cooped up at home.

As parts of England remain in some form of lockdown getting outside to exercise is more important than ever before but the recent study commissioned by sportswear company Reebok, has found that a whopping 61% of people in England aren’t motivated to stay fit this winter, while 71% were motivated in to get fit in Spring/ Summer.

Even though 81% of people in England say that exercising and keeping fit is important to them, around 1 in 2 (48%) have said that the winter weather had negatively affected their eagerness to do outdoor exercise and of those who aren’t as motivated as before, top excuses were the shortened time frame for being able to go out now it gets dark (41%), it’s too wet or rainy (41%) and too cold (35%).

Taking the time for go for a walk or exercise outdoors clearly does wonders for our mental health as 44% feel refreshed, 36% clear-headed, 1 in 3 feel more relaxed and 28% less stressed. For those who go without exercising for a long period, they are left feeling feel lethargic (36%), unmotivated (30%), overweight (30%) and guilty (25%).

When it comes to gender differences it appears there is a confidence issue, as 20% of females say they don’t like exercising outside because they aren’t very good and didn’t want people to see them vs 14% of males saying the same. 1 in four men said they would leave right away and bear with the bad weather if they wanted to exercise outdoors, vs 17% of females saying the same.