As the first post in our picking the low hanging fruit to get started series, let’s actually tackle one right off the bat that isn’t food and nutrition related – the simple principle of choosing to move more during the day.
For those starting from a more or less sedentary lifestyle, there are a host of simple actions to take to integrate more movement into your lifestyle. (Even if you’re well along the way to optimizing your fitness and functional capacity, there’s likely even useful movement you could be doing.) Let’s talk about three easy examples that anyone could start with today.
Unchain Yourself from Your Desk (or Couch)
Without belaboring the devastating consequences of sitting all day, whether collecting dust on the couch, or chained to a desk at work, let’s agree to stipulate to the fact that prolonged, for the most part uninterrupted sitting opens the door to a host of issues, and has the potential to negatively impact just about every system in the human body. (Another topic perhaps for another day, and trivially easy to research in detail yourself).
I advise friends, family, and clients to get up at least every thirty minutes (some would argue twenty might even be better) and move around for two to three minutes, even if just a walk down the hall or around the house. Years ago I had a medical practice partner who would run to his office and do pushups or an uber-quick kettle ball routine for two minutes, then jump right back into his day.
Every two hours, take a longer break for 5-15 minutes; this is a perfect time for a quick walk outside if access, weather, and your schedule allows.
Park and Walk
We all have errands to run; some of us with busy families and friends seemingly have a never-ending list of errands to run just about every day.
One of the simplest ways to add more movement to your routine is quit playing the ‘search for the closest parking spot’ game and instead choose to park on the outermost reaches of the parking lot and walk.
Recently a data-nerd client sent me a tally of walking time she’d added to her week parking in the North Forty parking lots as she calls them – it added up to nearly two and half hours during a busy shopping week.
Add in Two Short Walks a Day
I’m a huge fan of walking. Walking offers an extraordinary array of benefits physiologically and even psychologically, is accessible to just about every one on the planet, is an extremely economical way to add useful exercise to your routine, and can be done anywhere.
As most of the country moves into the spring season, I’ve been challenging clients to try a quick walk in the morning to start the day (personally I’m not sure what I’d do without my 45-90 minute early morning walks), and another quick walk after dinner in the evening. These don’t need to be a trek worthy of Lawrence of Arabia; if just starting out 10-15 minutes at a time will get you on the road to recovery. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your conditioning, and enjoyment of the process, develops.
More on picking the low hanging fruit on your health journey to come.
Leave a Reply