Importance of Physical Activity for Health

Professor Greg Whyte OBE PhD DSc FBASES FACSM

Greg is a parent of two children who attend Great Marlow and a Governor at the school, we asked him to do a short video promoting our minimising screen day and weekend to encourage our students along with their families to be more physically active.

In 2014 Professor Greg Whyte was awarded an OBE for his services to Sport, Sport Science & Charity, and was voted as one of the Top 10 Science Communicators in the UK by the British Science Council. Greg is an Olympian in modern pentathlon and is a European and World Championship medalist. He is an expert in the field of sports and exercise science. Greg is currently a Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moore’s University and Director of Performance at the Centre for Health and Human Performance at 76 Harley Street, London.

Greg is the preeminent authority on Exercise Physiology and Sports and Exercise Performance in the UK. An internationally recognised expert in the field, Greg has extensive professional experience assessing, treating and improving the performance of patients, sporting enthusiasts and athletes ranging from cancer sufferers to celebrities attempting their first mountain summit to Gold medal seeking Olympians.

Greg is well-known for his involvement in Comic Relief, since 2006 Greg has applied his sports science work to assist various celebrities in completing some of the toughest challenges. Greg has trained, motivated and successfully coached 23 Sport & Comic Relief Challenges including: the comedian David Walliams to swim across the English Channel the Gibraltar Straits and the length of the Thames; James Cracknell to run, cycle and swim to Africa; a team of 9 celebrities including Cheryl Cole, Chris Moyles and Gary Barlow to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro; Eddie Izzard to run a remarkable 43 marathons in 50 days; Christine Bleakley to waterski across the English Channel; Dermot O’Leary, Oly Murrs and others to cross the driest desert in Africa; John Bishop to complete ‘Bishops Week of Hell’ that involved John cycle, row and run from Paris to London; and Davina McCall in her ‘Beyond Breaking Point’ 506 mile ultra-triathlon. Greg supported Jo Brand on her ‘Hell of a Walk’ from Hull to Liverpool and Radio 1’s Greg James on his 5 triathlons in 5 cities in 5 days.

If anyone knows about the importance of physical activity and exercise Greg does!