Cllr Phil Young & Cllr Justin Tomlinson
3G Pitches - The Link Centre

Get Active This Christmas With Swindon Borough Council Christmas is extremely hectic, so finding time to exercise can be a struggle. But before crossing it off your list of things to do, consider all the festive food in store and where all those extra calories will go.

A traditional Christmas dinner of turkey with all the trimmings, a couple of glasses of mulled wine, followed by Christmas pudding and brandy butter contains around 2,000 calories.

An average man weighing 80 kg (12 stone 8lbs) would need to walk 18 miles - or a woman of 60 kg (9 stone 6lbs) 24 miles - on the flat to burn off all those excess calories. And that's before taking into account any additional chocolate, nuts, cake or mince pies consumed on the big day.

So it is hardly surprising that the average person puts on 5lbs in weight at Christmas, according to the British Heart Foundation. Every pound of fat contains 3,500 calories, so that's 17,500 calories to burn off.

The good news is that exercise can be fun - and people in Swindon are spoilt for choice of leisure facilities across the borough. For example, there is the Link Centre, in West Swindon, which boasts an ice rink, 25m pool, climbing wall, squash courts and gym. The Oasis, in North Star, has some fantastic waterslides and a newly-refurbished gym featuring exercise machines with TV screens. Besides offering a gym and squash courts, The Rec, in Highworth, has a sports massage clinic. People can also make this Christmas a smash hit at the Delta Tennis Centre, in West Swindon, which has outdoor and indoor courts, in case it's snowing.

Councillor Justin Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Recreation, said: "I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I will definitely be indulging in a little exercise over the festive period. Football is my passion and you can't beat a kick about with friends, especially now there are three new state of the art five-a-side outdoor pitches to play on at the Link Centre."

PANEL

To get you thinking about festive fitness, here are some activities and approximately how many calories they burn per hour for our 80kg male and 60kg female.

Activity kcal/hr Male 80kg kcal/hr 60kg Female

Aerobics 475 / 356
Football 549 / 411
Running 792 / 594
Rowing machine 844 / 633
RPM/Spinning 559 / 419
Swimming 707 / 530
Weight training 549 / 411

As the Lead Member for Leisure, Recreation & Culture I am delighted the Conservatives have invested heavily in our local Leisure Facilities over the last 18 months including: