Promoting Physical, Mental, and Social Health

Physical:
Recreation and walking are great ways to improve health.  Walking is one of the easiest ways to become more physically active because people already do it everyday.  American Heart Association states that regular aerobic physical activity can increase fitness level and thus the capacity for more exercise.   In addition, exercise can lower risks for disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes, control weight, and help to develop strength.

Almost anybody can begin engaging in physical activity and walking is a very natural way to start.  10,000 steps a day is an idea to help keep weight and down and to encourage aerobic exercise.  Beginners should start out slow and then increase steps per a day.  “Walking is the most underrated exercise and yet one of the most effective; the best starting point if you haven’t moved properly in ages.” – Medical Health Information

Mental:
Activity has benefits beyond the physical, it promotes psychological well-being .  Walking and exercise can reduce stress, depression and even loneliness.   Exercise may enhance memory and learning, these are functions that would otherwise be hampered by depression.  Furthermore, it can mitigate cognitive decline in older adults.

Social:
Social health is essential to the general well-being.  Being physically fit has the potential to raise confidence.  As a result, activity can raise the likelihood of being social, as active persons may seek to join group recreational activities, go outdoors, and thus raising the chance for encounters with other people.

While the Main Event encourages physical activity, it is essentially a social endeavor.  It strives to increase social connections between neighborhoods by being an open event that invites everyone in the Charlottesville community to join in recreation.  As a result, a wide range of community members such as children, college students, working professionals and the elderly, are expected to participate in one common experience.  This type of community interaction and activity is integral to the well-being of the city in three significant dimensions of health - physical, mental, and social because it has the ability to bridge the socioeconomic, age, and location differences of Charlottesville citizens.