‘Riding my bike improved my physical and mental health after covid’
Sharon has always been an active person, attending the gym and dancing was part of her routine to keep fit. However, she caught covid in early 2020, and a second time a year later. Severely hindering her respiratory health, Sharon was hospitalised for a week.
“When I came out of hospital even walking a few metres was a challenge and I would become really tired. It took me a while to build back my cardiovascular health, which felt strange to me as I have always been quite active. I knew I needed to do something drastic to kick start my health again, so I sold my car and learnt how to ride a bike.”
Sharon decided to take up cycling lessons as a way to recover her cardiovascular fitness, but this also had a huge impact on her mental health.
“Using my car was a comfort, but to me it’s not comforting knowing that I can sit in my car and be lazier, all I needed to do was get in, go to work, get back in and go home. Now, riding my bike to and from work helps me mentally prepare and unwind for my day, I certainly have more of a spring in my step and it helps me calm my mind.
“It’s very rare now that I get to work any other way and I would highly recommend that others take up active travel, being more physically active in my daily routine has had a much better impact on my life. “
Sharon has worked for Barts Health NHS Trust for 15 years and she is based in Newham Hospital as a patient pathway coordinator. In March 2023, she was gifted a Brompton bike by Sustrans and learnt to cycle over six months.
“I was tearful when the bike was gifted to me. It was a very kind thing to do and very unexpected. Learning to ride a bike was both a physical and a mental process. One day early on in my journey, I was cycling on the road and an established cyclist behind me shouted ‘learn to ride!’, so I shouted back ‘I AM’. I just had to keep going, as I get so much out of riding my bike.”
“I would encourage people to just have a go, don’t push yourself too hard, only do what your comfortable with, surround yourself with people who can support you, but just have a go!”
This process also encouraged Sharon to be more active in other areas and is now back in the gym and hoping to join a running club and take up swimming.
The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘Movement: moving more for our mental health’ and as part out our staff benefits we offer a range of active travel schemes to help staff be more active in their daily routine.