National Coding Week Fitness and Code Challenge

2nd September 2020

W/C 14th September 2020

It’s National Coding Week! That special week of the year where we challenge ourselves to learn new digital skills.

In previous years we have encouraged volunteers to hold events and help to develop the skills within their local communities but with COVID all this has changed.

As many businesses have had to adapt to the new normal so must we! We can’t promote face-to-face coding sessions, instead this year we will be launching the Fitness and Code Challenge!

Why the Fitness and Code Challenge?

Lockdown and other restrictions have affected businesses but they have also affected well-being and physical fitness. In the world of coding we can get so wrapped up in finding the solution to problems that we often forget to take a break from the keyboard or to keep fit.

With this in mind our theme for this year’s National Coding Week will be to help you remember to stay fit while you code. Beginners can get involved too this isn’t just for pro-coders!

The three levels of involvement

Spend time during National Coding Week learning a new coding language or a new digital skill then take part in a simple fitness activity each day – this could be cardio, weights or stretching. Remember the key idea is to be mindful about your well-being when working at the keyboard.

As a digital professional you should take regular breaks – you could try a fitness activity near your work station, sofa or kitchen table. Cardio could be star jumps, weights can be lifting bottles of water and stretching can be done easily every hour or so.

New to Coding? Get started learning some of the basics

The following resources may help:

Codecademy

KahnAcademy

Freecodecamp

Need some fitness inspiration ?

Watch out for our fitness videos we will be dropping throughout National Coding Week

Give Yourself a Medal

With the Olympic Games postponed this year – why not give yourself a #fitnessandcode challenge? Learn a new coding language or digital skill and:

For Bronze you could also try mindfulness or meditation or just going for a walk in order to take a break from the keyboard.

For Silver try some body weight training eg press ups, yoga or pilates.

For Gold we want you to dedicate at least 30 minutes each day during National Coding Week to a particular fitness activity so that as you learn new digital skills you are also learning that fitness and time away from the keyboard are an essential part of your learning.

See how the Founder of National Coding Week keeps fit using Body Weight Training.

“Our health and fitness are our most valuable possessions”.

Show everyone you took part!

Let us know what you are doing via twitter, facebook or instagram

#fitnessandcode #NationalCodingWeek