#gesundkannjeder

When I was a professional football player, there was only one issue for many players every week: will I play? Or won't I play? This is the most important question for every professional.

 I played over 500 games for FC Bayern and I rarely sat on the bench. However, I don't want to present my personal statistics here, but rather come to the actual topic of this article: health, fitness and well-being. These were the prerequisites for me to be able to do my job as a professional athlete so reliably. I was healthy, fit and felt good.

In part, this may well be a predisposition. But even as a young athlete, I knew that I had to actively take care of my health. I knew that a good, healthy diet was an important basis for this, and that great strains and performance peaks had to be balanced: through correctly set breaks, relaxation, care and regeneration.

When I founded the Philipp Lahm Foundation at the end of 2007, it was there from the very beginning. With our summer camp, we wanted to teach young people that healthy nutrition and exercise are crucial for the development of their personalities. We have consistently refined these methods. Together with AOK Bayern, we launched the Philipp Lahm School Tour in 2017 to reach even more young people with our commitment. The takeover of Schneekoppe and Sixtus was also motivated by the same principles: I want my company's products to help lots of people lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

The partnership sealed this week with Gesundes Bayern is a logical continuation of this commitment. Gesundes Bayern is a joint initiative of the Bavarian Spa Association (BHV) and BAYERN TOURISMUS Marketing GmbH. The initiative aims to use the great infrastructure of the Bavarian health resorts and spas in a contemporary way. It is intended to motivate as many people as possible to live healthy lives and to adapt their own lifestyles accordingly

I am taking on two specific tasks in this partnership. The first is related to the subject itself. I will work with renowned experts from the fields of sport, medicine and nutrition science including Stefanie Nann, expert for healthy nutrition; Wolfgang Sommerfeld, expert for physical exercise and Dr. Manfred Wagner, expert for mental exercise. Together, we will develop the program #gesundkannjeder.

#gesundkannjeder is a health and nutrition program for body and mind, which addresses both people who are healthy and those who have to live with diseases. The most important message of the program is that a healthy, active lifestyle improves the well-being and everyday life of each individual. It often only takes small changes. #gesundkannjeder can be any of our approaches, with which we want to take as many people as possible by the hand and help them with these small steps.

The second task concerns the communication of this content. I will support the Bavarian Spas Association as ambassador for the associated campaign in presenting the new program. I want us to reach many people with this campaign and motivate them to live healthier lives. The first stage of the program, #simplehealthystart, will be available and bookable in the Bavarian spas and health resorts from early summer 2020 - where our initiative complements the already first-class healing and spa offerings.

A small note to finish on. In the last few months I have been visiting some of the health resorts myself, swimming and cycling. After all this sport I found it especially nice to sit on the bench.