Proud to be British Read more from journalists who champion our culture, history and values Enjoy a full year's access to The Telegraph for £29. | | | Here's a joyful fact: You can add years to your life without ever wearing trainers or setting foot in a gym. How? By doing everyday tasks and chores that raise your heart rate. According to research published in the BMJ at the start of this year, these small bursts of activity that we fit into our daily lives are akin to a "longevity jab" – and add 11 years to our lifespan. You may already have done one of these today but if not, here are eight to try:
1. Take the stairs to work your glutes, quads and other leg muscles. Every time you lift your leg up you're boosting your hip mobility too. Frequent stair climbing is linked to reduced risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke, so don't get lazy on escalators – you can walk up those too. How to get out of the heart disease danger zone ➤
2. Tend the garden whether it's pulling the weeds, pushing the lawnmower or lifting a fork to dig. Switching between tasks in the garden can give you a full body workout, raising your heart rate and burning calories.'I was a lazy gardener until I realised it could make me fit' ➤
3. Carry your shopping and leave the car at home. It counts as weight-bearing exercise which strengthens your bones and muscles. The five best exercises for bone health ➤
4. Run for the bus even if it's just for thirty seconds and it'll work towards improving your cardio fitness and keeping your blood pressure healthy. How to start running when you're over 40 ➤
5. Bake, cook or do the dishes to strengthen your upper body and promote blood flow. Seven exercises you can do at your kitchen island to tone up ➤
6. Tackle the laundry and it'll help you improve your balance and posture; especially if you consciously use your core, as if you're doing a squat, when you're lifting the laundry basket. Four core exercises that will help you stay upright as you age ➤ 7. Vacuum or mop to exercise your flexibility and mobility and promote good blood circulation. Every time you're reaching under the table, you're increasing your mobility and if you want to get your heart rate up and burn more calories, try going a bit faster. The best exercises to prevent hip pain and stiffness ➤
8. Get out of your chair every 30 minutes and you'll fire up the muscles in your ankles, thighs, core, hips and backside. Strengthening these muscles will improve your balance and reduce the risk of falls as you age. 10 micro-exercises that are as effective as a 20-minute walk ➤ Read more here ➤ | | Ben Ross Head of Travel | As Travel Editor of The Telegraph, I'm always keen to highlight the range and depth of the coverage we offer, whether it's our archive of 10,000 hotel reviews, our expert-led consumer advice, or our vast collection of in-depth destination guides.
So I am excited to announce that this week we've launched Travel Expert, a new experimental AI tool designed to help you search all our travel articles and plan your next trip. Just ask it a question and it will give you a single, helpful response drawn from the expertise of our leading travel writers.
You can also follow links to the original stories, save suggestions to your travel notes, refine your query, and more.
Travel Expert is still being developed, so we welcome your feedback. Try it out here ➤ | Samuel Ramani The Alaska summit failed to live up to its billing. But some new reported proposals suggest a viable route to peace Continue reading ➤ Michael Deacon Britain is a tinderbox. This crackdown on Union flags could make it explode Continue reading ➤ Zoe Strimpel Edinburgh has turned from a cultural paradise into a woke hellscape Continue reading ➤ | Time spent wisely See another side to today's biggest stories with Britain's leading comment writers One year for £29 | Katharina Mayrhofer went in search of her great-grandfather pictured on the right | Katharina Mayrhofer and Helen Davy would probably never have met if not for a wooden table which lay hidden in an attic for decades. Once Katharina saw it she had a strong sense that it was not a family heirloom. Sure enough, she discovered that it had been looted from a family in the Austrian town of Hitler's birth by a Nazi officer – her great-grandfather. She tells Lianne Kolirin how she tracked down and bonded with its rightful owners. Continue reading ➤ | | The Chancellor's inheritance tax raid is forcing boomers to rethink how to pass on their wealth. One shrewd way to beat the taxman – and give younger generations a much-needed leg up – is to pay money directly into a descendant's pension. The magic of compound interest means even small donations will quickly add up – and could create a generation of accidental pension millionaires. Continue reading ➤ | | Midweek on the Las Vegas Strip, nowhere feels busy. Blackjack tables are empty, there is no traffic. Sin City's tourism industry is American consumerism in its purest form and it is in a slump. Visitor numbers and hotel revenues have plunged. The decline is a clear warning sign that Donald Trump's "economic revolution" is now hitting the ultimate engine of US GDP – consumer spending. Continue reading ➤ | | The NHS guidelines advise us not to drink more than 14 units a week – but this anonymous GP was secretly consuming more than 100. It started with evenings "down the pub", but after a broken marriage and lockdown, it escalated into a full-on addiction. He explains how he overcame his dependency and became the doctor he always wanted to be. Continue reading ➤ | | Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin all have great songs you can belt out | For some people, the word "karaoke" provokes a rush of fear and stone-cold dread. For others, it offers the chance to show off. But I think we can all agree that stepping up to the mic and belting out Dolly Parton's Jolene is a transformative experience. Here, Helen Brown picks songs for every occasion – from party starters to dad's delights, complete with a difficulty rating. Expect Aretha Franklin, the Spice Girls, Abba and more. Continue reading ➤ | | Do you have an urge to escape the UK? Join the club. Thousands of British families are packing up their lives, often using golden visas to move abroad. Here, we break down the pros and cons of some of the most popular schemes, from Portugal to Cyprus, and discover which is best for you.
Below are two more articles that I hope will brighten your weekend: - Selling parts or all of your garden could be the key to making thousands from your home without having to downsize. Here's how to do it.
- From searing investigations to brilliant radio dramas to the finest comedy, here is your weekly guide to the best audio to listen to.
| Free thinkers wanted Discuss and debate today's biggest talking points, directly with our journalists One year for £29 | 'I would not be surprised if [medieval monks] were, by our standards, fat,' said the Oxford historian Barbara Harvey, author of Living and Dying in Medieval England (1993). She found that a 16th-century Benedictine monk had a food and drink allowance of 7,375 calories a day, lunch alone could include 3lb of meat, and meals were washed down with a gallon of ale a day.
Described by a colleague as "bluntish in manner, self-deprecating, and with a ready, slightly cheeky smile", Barbara Harvey – whose obit you can read in full here – is remembered in a very funny online posting from Dame Esther Rantzen, below. | Esther Rantzen | Miss Harvey was Somerville College's dean in my time, and fined me "half a crown" when I arrived back late one evening – she applied the rules with awesome strictness in spite of the fact she was almost the same age as we undergraduates were (only 12 years older). I last saw her one day when I was back in Oxford with my daughter. When I greeted her, she said, "Who might you be?" I identified myself and she said, "You can't be – Esther Rantzen was fat," which was harsh but true. She strode on, and when my daughter had recovered from her shock, she said, "Who was that incredibly rude old lady?" I replied, "That wasn't a rude old lady, that was an Oxford don."
I now realise from your obituary of Miss Harvey that her scholarship had inclined her to be a bit fatist. | Test your trivia skills and put the answers below in order. Play all three rounds of today's trivia game, Sorted, plus our full range of brainteasers on Telegraph Puzzles.
Get a head start on today's Cross Atlantic by cracking this clue: Friday's Panagram was UNLOVABLE. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today's puzzle. | Thank you for reading. Allister Heath, Sunday Telegraph Editor
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