β‘ Move & sweat
Active hobbies
Sports, fitness and movement hobbies, from running, cycling and swimming to dance, martial arts and team games. Most start with a beginner session or club taster, and each guide covers kit, first sessions and how to avoid early injuries.
Showing 60 of 205 hobbies
Cycling
Cycling is riding a bike for transport, fun or fitness, from short local rides and commuting to social group rides, trails and longer weekend loops.
Open guide βRunning
Running is jogging outdoors at an easy pace, using run-walk intervals to build towards a continuous 5K, then longer distances, parkruns, trails or races.
Open guide βStrength Training
Strength training is lifting weights or using bands and bodyweight in planned sessions, learning the squat, hinge, push and pull and adding load gradually.
Open guide βSwimming
Swimming is moving through water with strokes like breaststroke, front crawl and backstroke, learning to breathe out underwater and building from widths to lengths.
Open guide βDrumming
Drumming is learning to play a drum kit or practice pad, starting with stick grip, basic rock beats and rudiments before playing along with songs or in a band.
Open guide βKayaking
Kayaking is paddling a small boat with a double-bladed paddle on lakes, canals, rivers or the sea, best started with a taster session on sheltered flat water.
Open guide βPaddleboarding
Paddleboarding is standing or kneeling on a large board and propelling yourself with a long paddle across lakes, rivers, canals and sheltered sea.
Open guide βRock Climbing
Rock climbing is moving up walls or rock using hands and feet, usually learned at an indoor climbing wall through bouldering or roped climbing before moving outdoors.
Open guide βYoga
Yoga is a practice of postures, breathing and relaxation done on a mat, with styles from gentle hatha to flowing vinyasa, usually learned in a weekly class.
Open guide βPilates
Pilates is a low-impact system of controlled exercises done on a mat or on spring-loaded machines such as the reformer, built around precise, breath-led movement.
Open guide βDance
Dance is learning steps, timing and movement to music in classes and socials, from ballroom, salsa and swing to street, contemporary and ceilidh.
Open guide βTennis
Tennis is hitting a ball over a net with a racket on a court, in singles or doubles, learned through rallying, serving and scoring in lessons or at a club.
Open guide βBadminton
Badminton is a fast racket game where you hit a feathered or plastic shuttlecock over a high net, played as singles or doubles, usually indoors in a sports hall.
Open guide βTable Tennis
Table tennis is a fast racket game played on a table with a small plastic ball, where spin, placement and quick reactions matter more than power.
Open guide βSkateboarding
Skateboarding is riding and performing tricks on a four-wheeled deck at skateparks, in streets or on smooth paths, learned step by step from balance to ollies.
Open guide βRoller Skating
Roller skating is gliding on quad or inline skates at rinks, skate parks and smooth paths, learning balance, stopping and turning for fun, dance or derby.
Open guide βMartial Arts
Martial arts are structured combat sports and traditions such as judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, learned in classes with a coach and training partners.
Open guide βArchery
Archery is shooting arrows at a target with a recurve, longbow or compound bow, learned on a club course and practised for accuracy and consistency.
Open guide βSurfing
Surfing is riding breaking waves standing on a board, learned at UK beaches in a wetsuit with a surf school lesson before you buy anything.
Open guide βRowing
Rowing is propelling a narrow boat with oars while sitting facing backwards on a sliding seat, learned at a club, usually on a river, lake or the coast.
Open guide βBasketball
Basketball is a fast five-a-side team game of dribbling, passing and shooting into a ring, played indoors at leisure centres and outdoors on park courts.
Open guide βVolleyball
Volleyball is a net game where two teams keep a ball off the floor using passes, sets and spikes, played indoors in sports halls or on beach sand.
Open guide βRugby Union
Rugby union is a fifteen-a-side contact team sport with an oval ball, where teams score tries by carrying it over the line and contest possession at rucks, scrums and lineouts.
Open guide βRugby League
Rugby league is a thirteen-a-side contact team sport played with an oval ball, where teams get six tackles to score tries before handing over possession.
Open guide βCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport in which batters score runs while the fielding side tries to take wickets, played at clubs across the UK in summer.
Open guide βBaseball
Learning to throw, catch, field and hit in the bat-and-ball game played on a diamond with nine players a side, through local clubs and casual practice.
Open guide βSoftball
A bat-and-ball team sport played on a diamond with a large ball and underarm pitching, from relaxed slow-pitch leagues to fast-pitch teams.
Open guide βHockey
Eleven-a-side stick-and-ball team sport played on artificial pitches, learning to dribble, pass and shoot with the flat side of your stick.
Open guide βField Hockey
Field hockey is an 11-a-side team sport played on an artificial pitch, where players use a curved stick to pass, dribble and shoot a hard ball into a goal.
Open guide βIce Hockey
Ice hockey is a fast team sport played on skates, where you pass, shoot and defend with a stick and puck, starting with learn-to-play sessions at a local rink.
Open guide βHandball
Fast seven-a-side indoor team game in which players pass, run three steps, jump and throw the ball past a goalkeeper, played by clubs across the UK.
Open guide βNetball
A seven-a-side court sport in which you pass a ball between teammates and shoot through a ring, with no dribbling, no running with the ball and no contact.
Open guide βLacrosse
A team sport in which players carry, pass and shoot a rubber ball with a netted stick called a crosse, with separate men's and women's rules.
Open guide βSquash
A fast indoor racket sport for two players in a four-walled court, hitting a small rubber ball against the front wall in turns.
Open guide βRacquetball
Racquetball is a fast indoor game where two or four players hit a bouncy rubber ball with short-handled racquets, using the front, side and back walls of an enclosed court.
Open guide βPadel
A doubles racket sport played on a small court enclosed by glass and mesh walls, with a solid stringless racket and tennis-style scoring.
Open guide βFencing
Learning to fight with a foil, Γ©pΓ©e or sabre in padded kit, starting with footwork and distance and moving on to scored bouts at a club.
Open guide βBoxing
Boxing is a striking sport using punches only, built on footwork, defence and conditioning, taught in gyms and clubs from non-contact fitness to competition.
Open guide βKickboxing
Kickboxing combines boxing-style punches with kicks and sometimes knees, taught as a high-energy fitness class or a martial art with light-contact sparring.
Open guide βJudo
Japanese grappling art in which you learn to fall safely, throw a partner and control them on the mat, practised in a club in a white suit called a judogi.
Open guide βKarate
Japanese striking martial art taught in a dojo, built on punches, kicks and blocks, practised as basic drills, set forms called kata and controlled partner work.
Open guide βTaekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art known for fast, high kicks, taught in club classes with patterns (poomsae), sparring and belt gradings from white to black.
Open guide βAikido
A Japanese martial art of throws, pins and joint locks that redirect a partner's own momentum, learnt by paired practice on mats with no sparring.
Open guide βBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a grappling martial art where you control an opponent on the ground and win with chokes and joint locks, trained in a gi or without.
Open guide βCapoeira
A Brazilian art mixing martial-arts movements, acrobatics, music and song, practised in a circle called a roda with a basic swaying step called the ginga.
Open guide βTai Chi
Tai chi is a slow, flowing Chinese martial art practised as a memorised sequence of postures called a form, learned in weekly classes or outdoors in a group.
Open guide βParkour
Training to move efficiently over, under and between obstacles using vaults, precision jumps, rolls and balance, usually in a gym or coached group.
Open guide βCalisthenics
Calisthenics is bodyweight strength training built on push-ups, pull-ups, dips and squats, progressed step by step at home, in parks or on street workout bars.
Open guide βPowerlifting
Powerlifting is a strength sport built on three lifts, the squat, bench press and deadlift, where you train to lift your heaviest single rep and can compete for a total.
Open guide βOlympic Weightlifting
Olympic weightlifting trains the snatch and the clean and jerk, two fast lifts that take a barbell from the floor to overhead, built up with coached technique.
Open guide βCrossFit
Group fitness classes in a gym, called a box, combining weightlifting, gymnastics moves, rowing and running in timed workouts that change every day.
Open guide βAerobics
Instructor-led aerobics classes set to music, linking marches, step-touches, knee lifts and arm patterns into continuous routines that raise your heart rate.
Open guide βStep Aerobics
Step aerobics is an instructor-led fitness class where you step up and down on a raised platform in choreographed patterns to music, usually for 45 to 60 minutes.
Open guide βZumba
A group dance-fitness class set to Latin and world music, where an instructor leads simple choreographed routines that you follow at your own level.
Open guide βBallet
Learning classical ballet technique at the barre and in the centre, from basic positions and pliΓ©s to simple steps and short combinations, in adult beginner classes.
Open guide βTap Dancing
Tap dancing is a percussive dance where metal plates on your shoes make rhythms against the floor, learned through steps like shuffles, flaps and time steps.
Open guide βSalsa Dancing
Salsa is a Latin partner dance with eight-count steps, spins and turns, learned in weekly classes and danced at social nights with a changing cast of partners.
Open guide βBallroom Dancing
Ballroom dancing is partner dancing in a close hold, learning the waltz, quickstep, foxtrot, tango and Viennese waltz in classes, socials and competitions.
Open guide βSwing Dancing
Swing dancing is a partner dance, led by classes and weekly socials, built around Lindy hop, Charleston and jive to jazz from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Open guide βBelly Dancing
Belly dancing, or raqs sharqi, is a Middle Eastern dance built on hip, rib and shoulder isolations, shimmies and undulations, usually learned in weekly classes.
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