She’s the two-time Olympic gold medalist who captured the hearts of the nation in Athens in 2004. Now Dame Kelly Holmes is encouraging the nation to move more for body and mind following new data launched that shows that cost-of-living crisis is damaging the nation’s physical and mental health.

In the past year over a third (34%) said their mental or emotional health had got worse, and a similar number (35%) said their physical health had got worse.

Despite this, in promising news the Healthier Nation Index has shown an improvement in the levels of exercise nationwide for the first time since the survey began in 2021, with Brits spending almost over an hour (61 minutes) extra exercising each month compared to last year.

The nation is also becoming more aware of the benefits of exercise for their mental health, with 32% saying they were motivated to exercise because of this, up from 27% in 2022. Exercising outdoors tops the list of most popular type of activity for boosting physical health, with 38% saying that is the main way they have exercised in the last year.

Whilst this positive increase has meant more people are reaching the NHS’ recommended goal of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, a worrying three quarters of the population (76%, down from 81% in 2022) are still not achieving this, with the average person in the UK reaching just 79 minutes a week.

For those of us who aren’t Olympic champions, finding the time and motivation to exercise can be difficult. This is why Holmes has teamed up with Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest healthcare charity, as part of their “Find 5” campaign which encourages people to take small steps into become a fitter and happier version of themselves.