I watch people move all the time. As a personal trainer, I instruct clients on how to perform specific movements for improved fitness and function. In general, I find it fascinating to observe how individuals get from one place to another.
It troubles me that many people seem to have difficulty moving while performing their normal activities of daily living. Sometimes it is obviously due some injury or chronic impairment. However, many times it looks like the body is just not used to moving.
This gives me some insight into why exercise can be such a daunting prospect. If walking from the car into the grocery store is a challenge, getting on a treadmill would be completely unappealing.
Even those who regularly go to the gym are often culprits of being too sedentary for the rest of the day. That is still a problem. The human body is designed to move.
Here are some easy ways to add more motion to your day.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. You can ease into it by walking down the stairs for a week. Many stairwells are located at inconvenient places in buildings which gives the plus of added steps to actually arrive to the head of the stairs.
Once you have gotten accustomed to walking to and down the stairwell you can add the anti-gravity portion of the movement. If your destination floor is higher than you have the stamina to traverse, just get off the elevator a few floors early and walk the remainder. This is a great way to move your body and strengthen your heart.
Park your car at the end of the aisle. Those few extra steps must be of some value since everyone is always seeking out the closest spot. It actually saves time looking for parking just to aim to be far from the front door.
This tip also makes it easier to find your car sitting by itself at the end of the aisle. The fact that you now will have to carry your purchases a few more feet is just an added strength-building bonus on the back end.
Get up from your desk every hour. Prolonged sitting in one position, especially hunched over a computer, is terrible for the body. Backs get sore. Hips get tight. Bums spread out while the muscles get weak.
I’ll speak another time about the travesty that is the increasing size of the buttocks in the face of decreasing strength of the gluteus muscles with sitting.
Even if you just stand up for a few seconds and sit back down that is an improvement on the standard. It is difficult to ask bodies to move effectively on demand when we keep them still all day.
Walk to your co-worker’s office/cubicle. I must confess to have never worked in a typical office environment. As I understand it, many people call/e-mail/text/instant message their officemates to communicate during the day.
That was not an option when I worked in a medical office. You had to walk to where the person was with whom you wanted to speak. There were a lot of steps accumulated over the course of a day.
I grant you it is not the most time-efficient way to communicate. However, a walk to the other side of the office is probably a reasonable use of a few minutes for the sake of overall well-being.
None of these suggestions is groundbreaking. The general principle is to try to incorporate more movement into your normal routine.
Even paralyzed individuals get physical therapy to keep their bodies from developing the complications associated with being still at all times. Those of us with the power to put ourselves into motion ought to take advantage of the ability. Your body will feel better for it.
If you would like help developing strategies to support your own wellness, please click here to request an Essence of Strength sample coaching conversation.
Dr Jattu Senesie is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, certified success coach, physician satisfaction specialist and speaker. She blogs about issues of self care and well-being in an effort to help her fellow altruistic high achievers find satisfaction in their success as early in their careers as possible.
