Adding activity to your day

Someone once told me that “motion is lotion” and it is very true and important to understand. Staying active allows our body to perform to its best ability. Being sedentary for long periods of time cause muscles and joints to become stiff and often cause us to have pain. It’s not uncommon for many that your job requires you to be seated for a large portion of the time you are working. This makes it hard to be active all day throughout your day. Even those who workout everyday may not be getting enough activity if they are sitting at work or at home for the rest of the day. Scientific research has shown that sitting too much hinders the body’s ability to deposit fat from the bloodstream into the body. Constantly elevated blood fats are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, as well as it affects cholesterol levels and leads to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Knowing this puts an emphasis on how important it is to stay moving throughout the day, so what are some tips to increase your daily activity and decrease sitting.

The biggest and easiest way is to go for a walk whenever you have the ability. It doesn’t have to be far and it doesn’t have to be long but just getting up from your desk or wherever and taking a walk is beneficial. Try to get up and take a quick break every hour to get up and move, whether you go to get some water or coffee, or use the restroom. Not only are these little breaks good for your health but also have shown to boost production, so don’t think that this will put you behind with what you need to accomplish that day. Other times you can try to fit a walk in is during phone calls or try to take walks during your lunch and after work. If you find yourself unmotivated to do so, get a friend or colleague to join you and keep you accountable. All of these little walks will add up and are definitely much better than sitting all day. If you are at a desk and cant get up and leave to go for a walk try standing while you work. If you have an option for a desk that can turn into a standing desk this will make it much easier to stand more during the work hours.

It’s important to keep your muscles contracting throughout your day so whenever you have a little bit of time, work in some body weight exercises. Doing exercises such as squats, lunges, desk push ups, etc are very beneficial, also adding some stretches to avoid muscles getting tight. Oftentimes people who sit a lot have tight hip flexors and this can lead to back pain so it is very important to stretch and keep moving. Finding times to add movement is essential for a healthy lifestyle, find times and activities that fit your life and schedule and stick to it. Using a device such as a fitbit or apple watch that tracks your steps is a great way to keep yourself honest and keep you on track with your daily movement goals.