H: Vicky Letch, host
J: James Cracknell
T: Tom White, Siemens

H: Hello and welcome to the Good Causes Show. I’m Vicky Letch. Now we all know that exercise can increase your health, we also know that it can reduce the risk of a stroke, so with that in mind how about taking part in the Siemens Stroke for Stroke week between the 3rd and the 9th of December. Help raise those oh so important funds for the Stroke Association. I’ve been joined in the studio today by gold medal winner James Cracknell.

J: Hello

H: Hello. And also Tom White from Siemens, thank you so much for joining us. Now Tom will actually be taking part in Stroke for Stroke, and he’s going to let us know how we can squeeze in those gym sessions in our really busy schedules, so stay tuned for that. Of course we are live so if you have any questions whatsoever just pop them in the box on the screen, click send and then we’ll get them answered for you. So let’s just start off Tom by giving people an overview of what Stroke for Stroke is all about

T: Well we’ve teamed together with the Stroke Association and Siemens in order to encourage people to row just 10k, 10km during the week of the 3rd to the 9th and get some exercise, have a little bit of fun and also raise some money for the Stroke Association. If we can get 4000 people just to do 10k during that week, that would be equivalent to rowing all the way round the world

H: That’s amazing isn’t it? Now strokes themselves, is it a huge problem in the UK?

J: About 150,000 people – reported strokes a year, so that’s 400 a day which is a huge number

H: So definitely something that needs to be addressed?

T: Yes and I think that one of the things people overlook is that 25% of those reported strokes are for people under the age of 65, because often, people when they talk about strokes they think it only affects elderly, but it can strike at any age and with regular exercise and a good, healthy lifestyle, then you can reduce the incidents by up to 27%

H: That’s incredible. It’s true, we do think of the older generations. So this is a message for all of you out there under the age of 50 and above, everyone get involved and start young

T: Yes start young and go along to your local gym where there’ll be one of these rowing machines, if you’ve never rowed before, you don’t have to start crazily like an Olympic rower, you can build up slowly, we’re asking people to try and set a target of just 10km over a week. They can do it over several days over several sessions, they’ll have good supervision in the gym and they’ll have a good time as well

H: And now can they do this in a team, because I’m someone that needs a bit of encouragement

J: Yes definitely, easier in a team, most things are easier in a team, especially the motivation to go down there if 4 of you are doing it or 5 or 6, just saying let’s all go and do it together it’s just an extra bit of pressure if one of you doesn’t turn up they’re in for a lot of ribbing from the team, so I think yes the more people that you get, that you get into it, the easier it will be to stick at

H: Ok.

T: When we launched it in Siemens UK we gave a little bit of a regatta, an internal regatta to have one department against another department and to group different ages together, to group women against men etc, so it can add a bit of fun to it as well as getting fit

H: And they can do prizes?

T: Yes absolutely

H: Within their little teams – that would be great. We’ve had a question in, this is for you James, it’s from Bill, thank you very much Bill. Bill wants to know, or he says ‘hi James, I’ve always been active and have played hockey to a very competitive level, I’m now 30 and have given up the vast majority of my spare time for the last 16 years to my sport. I’m suffering from a huge lack of motivation right now – what keeps you going when you feel like throwing in the towel?’

J: Yes I think it’s difficult, what Bill’s saying is that people have played sport and then stop, it’s quite hard to just have the enthusiasm to stay fit if you haven’t got a goal of going out and playing matches so I think the thing is to pick a different sport rather than say doing the one you used to do and get worse at it, pick something different and set yourself a target and build up to doing that. It will keep the enthusiasm and give you something to go after

H: And of course this is the exciting thing about rowing, because certainly for me personally I have never rowed before so it’s a new challenge for people perhaps to actually get involved with Stroke for Stroke

J: Yes and it’s not like running or cycling that people do growing up, you actually have to learn a bit of a new skill to row on the machines, it’s not like rowing on the water, if you fall off you’re not going to get wet, but there is still an element of technique, you have to learn to get the most out of it and to use the muscles properly, and I think that’s always good if you’re doing exercise it’s important to always – easier to motivate yourself if you’re learning something as well and you’re getting feedback, I’m getting better at it, I’m getting better at it helps you stick at it

H: Now of course if you are at home thinking well that’s all well and good, he’s brilliant at rowing, I’m going to get James to do a little demonstration towards the end of the show so stay tuned for that, it will be well worth it. Tom – pressure, it’s going to have to be brilliant! Tom, for all of those people who are really busy, because you of course are taking part in this challenge what would you say to someone who says I work really long hours, I’ve got children, I’ve got a household to run, how do they squeeze in the time?

T: Well I was one of those who always found excuses not to exercise and to do something different, and there are various things that you can do. Going to the gym is part of it and if you want to make that successful, what worked for me is to make sure that I chose one that was on my route to work so there was no excuse except stop – to stop in. But it’s equally, it’s taking the stairs, having variety in what you do. You find that all of that contributes to your overall level of fitness

H: Yes. And of course don’t make excuses, it’s such an easy thing to do – well it’s very easy to make an excuse, but if you just stop making excuses for things you’ll feel more positive, and then you do make those changes and then as soon as you start exercising your energy levels go through the roof.

J: It is, it’s hard to make that step from not doing anything to actually doing something, and that’s why you need a kind of an incentive to get there, that’s why the Stroke for Stroke campaign’s good, it gives – ok I’m doing it for a good cause as well, and then once you start exercising actually, although it’s beforehand you think it’s going to take up some of my time to do it, you actually end up having more time because you’ve got more energy and you just feel like hey, I can live with it

H: Yes. Ok I’ve got another question for you

J: Ok

H: David says ‘despite England’s success, surely rowing is a better sport for your health than rugby?’

J: It’s better for your ears I’d say

H: Yes but you can’t beat a good scrum can you?

J: Well yes – if I was playing, if I had any sort of speed I’d try and stand outside it – I mean I think rugby is similar to rowing in some ways, the biggest benefit apart from being healthy is the team aspect, and learning to trust people and just having a big shared experience with other guys, and those guys from the 2003 world cup and this one will have been through a lot together and will have friendships that will last the rest of their lives

H: So a real sort of team effort again

J: Yes team sports are great, and you have to – which is why, as Tom was saying, to get the group of people into doing something means you’re more likely to stick at it

H: So this is of course, and letting you all know at home if you’re thinking I don’t want to do this alone, you can think about teaming up with your best friend, maybe you’ve got a friend that you thought always needed to start exercising, what a great way to encourage them to make perhaps some long term changes to their lifestyles

T: Very much so and it’s the sort of exercise that you can, it doesn’t matter on your level of fitness, you can start off really slow, you can build up over time, you can do a short amount, five minutes, you can do longer – 10, 15 minutes. So it’s suitable for all different ages and all different backgrounds

H: Fantastic. Helen wants to know, thank you very much Helen – ‘how do you stay motivated to do training, especially over the winter in horrible weather?’

J: When you’re – well, this is – when I was a fourth matic for the Olympics we went away quite a bit in the winter, to some nice hot places, so that was easy to keep motivated, and now I think firstly you say I did the Marathon last year so that’s your goal, so you know if you don’t get out there and train you’re going to have a horrible day come April, and also just do a variety of things, don’t always have to go outside, if you’re lucky enough to have membership of a gym go there, or just go swimming – there’s lots of community sports clubs that are there now provided by local councils, so there’s always something you can do, like you said it’s one way you can look for excuses or you can think and just stick to the routine because it is so much easier – and you’ve got to do it long term as well, especially if you’ve got a family like you mentioned that you want to be fit for your kids when you’re older and you kind of can’t leave it too late to start looking after yourself

H: And having goals to work towards

J: Yes and rewarding yourself as well, it’s not all kind of flog yourself with a whip, you’ve achieved something right you know enjoy and reward yourself as well –

H: Like a square of chocolate

J: I didn’t say that

H: He didn’t – not his words, my words. But he’s going like this – not really

T: Just a square

H: Just one square, one little square. Tom obviously I want to say the best of luck, get rowing, and do you know what, I might think of you whilst I’m also rowing

T: Thank you, you’ll find all the information on our website siemens.co.uk/strokeforstroke. We’d very much welcome everybody to join in and you’re helping a good cause as well

H: And it’s really exciting to know that you’re doing something, working hard, working away with thousands of other people around the UK. That’s quite thrilling actually isn’t it?

T: Absolutely

H: Ok, we’re going to end now with a demonstration

J: Demonstration

H: We have the genius here so we may as well use him. Do you want to talk us through

J: It’s been said before

H: It’s been said many times before. Talk us through -

J: It’s very similar to the pedal on a bike, that it’s a constant motion, but you have to start it from somewhere, so legs flat, arms into the body and the first movement you do is you push your hands away, and then this is quite key, it’s just getting the body weight forward so you rock from the hips, feel a slight stretch in the hamstring, and then slide up. And then the other way you go legs first, big muscles first, legs back, body, arms and then just repeat it over and over again. So legs, body, arms, body, legs and it’s nice to have a nice long relaxed rhythm to it, that just makes it nice and efficient. If you imagine here this point in the stroke the boat’s running nicely through the water, you can imagine it flowing on, and then you just relax on the way forward and then you drive again through there. Something like that

H: I wonder if I will look as graceful when I do it. Be like this – but I’m going to have a go. Make sure you do join in, it’s really important, and I look forward to rowing with all of you between the 3rd and the 9th of December. Do pop onto the website for more information. Thank you so much to you both

J: Thank you

T: Thank you

H: And I’ll see you next time