LIVING A SEDENTARY LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

HOW TO INCORPORATE EXERCISE ON TO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE

Living a sedentary life in the 21^st century, can seriously compromise your wellbeing and fuel many chronic health conditions, but even with constant messages telling us that movement is great for our physical and mental health, it can be at times difficult to achieve this daily goal.

What are the facts?

Evidence is telling us that living a sedentary life is derogative to our health. For instance, sitting for long periods of time can increase the risk of obesity, raise your blood sugar levels, and increase the risk of heart disease.

Even more statistics show us that those people who sit still for more than 4 hours a day, have a 40 per cent higher risk of premature death than those who move more often.

HOW TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON OUR HEALTH

So, what can we do to get enough amount of physical movement to make a difference to our health?

If we rely on exercise as our primary source of movement, there are two main issues we might encounter:

• We do 30 minutes of vigorous exercise a day, but then we avoid moving for the rest of the day.
• We might not have enough time in our daily routine to fit in a work- out. After all, we sit at our desk at work, we sit down on our commute to and from work, we sit down to watch tv, browse the net and have  dinner, once we return home.

Being “too busy” and “not having enough time” are no excuses for not prioritizing movement though our daily routine.

So … how do we do this? I hear you whisper…

Through movement you get from simple daily activities, low intensity exercise such as walking, and NEAT exercise (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) such as doing housework.

 

So if the idea of going to the gym is off putting, or impossible at present with the new lock down restrictions, or you simply struggle to get enough time to exercise, keep reading and I will show you ten ways you can incorporate more movement to improve your fitness routine.

10 incidental movement tips:

1. Use your lunch break to fit in a brisk walk:

Bring your lunch from home, eat it and then spend the rest of your break taking a walk, or if you are someone who buys lunch on daily basis, leave your desk to go and buy your lunch, eat it and then go for a short walk. Research shows that a short walk after your meal, is a great way to reduce your blood sugar levels.

2. Climb the stairs:

Walk upstairs instead of catching the elevator or escalator. Walking up a set of stairs, is more intense than walking down and burns around four times as many calories.

3. Park the car at the end of the car park:

Most of us are in the habit of parking as close as possible to the supermarket or office building, but by leaving your car that little bit further away, you are forcing yourself to walk an extra few minutes, getting to and from your car.

If you commute to work by train or bus, try getting off few stops earlier so you add additional walking time.

Heart disease in women has been shown to be reduced by walking as little as 60 minutes a week.

4. Turn housework into a workout:

Cleaning your house and getting some exercise done in the process. You can kill two birds with one stone. Put some music on and move that hoover to the rhythm, even better put the hoover away and take the broom out and you will work harder. The music is not only a distraction, but it will improve your mood and will make you feel as if you are doing less physical work.

5. Do some work outdoors:

You can do this by doing some gardening, washing your car or other chores such as raking leaves or washing your windows. Try to ditch the machinery and do as much as you can manually.

6. Walk to the shops:

It is very tempting to get in the car even just to go around the corner, but by walking to the shops you are involving some resistance work when you carry your shopping back. Our ancestors did not always have cars, they had to walk miles for even the smallest chores, and they definitely did not have shopping trollies to carry all the food back home, they probably grew their own.

7. Walk as you chat:

A five-minute phone call can turn into a five-minute walk, by walking up and down and moving around the room while you talk. This is another great way of getting some activity without even noticing it’s happening.

8. Take the dog for a walk:

By walking the dog, twice a day, once in the morning and in the evening, you get two rounds of physical activity, and you can include a couple of games with your dog like chasing him or throwing the stick and asking him to fetch it to make this exercise more intense.

A friend of mine uses this opportunity to do few press ups against a log or bench and to include a couple of short jogs while her four-legged friend accompanies her.

9. Work out while watching TV:

Try positioning your indoor bike or your peddler in front of the TV, so instead of sitting on the couch you peddle your way through a film or sports event. You can make it fun by doing few jumping jacks every time your favourite character appears on screen.

 

10. Get up and Stand up:

You should be getting up every 20 to 30 minutes and move around. Have a glass of water in front of you and drink it as you go along so you will need to visit the toilet few more times than usual, also you might need to keep refilling your glass. Use the toilet further to you as an opportunity to take the stairs and why not leave a couple of dumbbells by the stairs to add some resistance to this NEAT exercise, as you climb up and down those stairs.

 

So, if the idea of fitting in a 30-minute workout into your busy daily routine, sounds impossible, think again. I have shown you ten different ideas to get similar 30-minutes of purposeful movement, without making it a chore.

These are only few examples, but it proves that few bouts of few minutes of movement a day, cumulatively, add up to make a difference to your health.

If you want to know how I can help you to make an impact on your health, Contact me, to get your FREE, non-obligation first consultation.