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You go as hard as you can in the gym. But even if you train multiple times a week with hour-long sessions, you’re still spending the overwhelming majority of your time not working out. If you want what’s best for your gains, it’s important to think outside of the four walls of your gym.
It’s possible that you have a job that keeps you on your feet and active for most of the day, in which case you might want to focus on restorative movements that will help keep you mobile and injury-free. But it’s also possible that your job requires you to sit… and sit… and sit. If you want to move more during the day, try these simple, accessible exercises to keep you going.
Ways to Move More During the Day
What Does it Mean to Be Sedentary?
Sedentary activity refers to any activity that requires a low energy output, especially if that activity takes place in a seated or reclined position. Physical inactivity is a lack of moderate to vigorous exercise in sufficient amounts. What constitutes “sufficient” varies from person-to-person, but the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity for adults.
Credit: New Africa / Shutterstock
For people with various disabilities — for example, wheelchair users and/or people with chronic pain — research suggests that it’s less important to focus on the total amount of time spent doing physical activity. Instead, focus on giving yourself short breaks from being completely sedentary if, when, and how you feel able to do so. (1)(2)
Even if you’re a gym rat, you can still have an overall sedentary lifestyle, which makes sedentary behavior slightly different from physical activity. Correcting sedentary behavior can be as simple as increasing your physical activity in small ways throughout the day. (3)(4)
Movements to Increase Your Daily Activity
Let’s explore some simple ways to incorporate movement into your daily routine. You can modify these movements to align with the needs of your body. These moves will help strength athletes with sedentary jobs keep active throughout long days of sitting.
Simple daily exercises can also help strength athletes with very physically active jobs to maintain joint mobility and integrate soothing movements that can help aid recovery. Remember to listen to the true feelings of your body, to avoid movements that don’t feel good, and to consult a medical professional before starting a new training plan.
Breathing Exercise
Dedicating time and attention to your breath can help you build the foundation for undertaking more vigorous activity. By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can create the conditions to become more aware of your own body as a whole.
The respiratory system brings oxygen to the cells in your muscles, which allows them to contract and create tension for movement in your body. As few as six long, steady breaths can have a regulating effect on your nervous system. (5)
Credit: Pheelings media / Shutterstock
By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can ease your recovery by calming your nervous system. To brace effectively under heavy loads, you also need to learn to consciously control your breath. Practicing some form of breath control daily can help you stay calm, keep your muscles tight, and keep your mind in control on the platform.
How to Do it
Breathe deeply in through your nose. Count slowly in your head to keep track of how many seconds you can comfortably breathe in for. If you can easily get to a count of eight, keep that pace consistent. If you can easily get to a count of three, keep that pace consistent.
Exhale slowly through your mouth. Try to count to the same number you count to with your inhales.
Start with five or 10 breaths at a pace that’s comfortable. Gradually increase the length of your inhales and exhales as desired.
You might opt to spend a full minute or two focusing on your breath every hour or every couple of hours. Consider also connecting your breathing activity to specific tasks you know you’ll do every day. Perhaps spend a minute on breathing exercises before you dive into your work email, and another time before you close your laptop for the day.
Shoulder Opener
Releasing tension in your shoulders isn’t just a good way to relax. Your shoulders have a direct relationship with the effectiveness of your lifting routines. With good shoulder mobility, you can start to unlock more achievements in the gym — think overhead squats and snatches. You’ll also open your chest muscles that may be crunched over all day if you’ve got a job that requires a lot of screen time.
Credit: LightField Studios / Shutterstock
Performing shoulder openers a few times throughout each day is also a good way to help clear brain fog, negative thoughts, and anxiety. (6) You don’t even have to stand up to do these. Perform them from a seated position if you want or need to. (7)
How to Do it
Sit or stand tall with your chest lifted and your shoulders comfortably relaxed. Keep them down and away from your ears.
Bend your elbows and interlace your fingers behind your head.
Look up to the sky to lift your chest and bring your elbows out wide. Take a deep breath in while you’re here.
Then, look down towards your belly, tuck your chin to your chest, and close your elbows in front of your face. Fully exhale here in this position.
Repeat these steps to the rhythm of your breath as many times as you need to.
Whenever you are ready, you can bring your arms down, relax your shoulders and your chest, and breathe naturally.
Try doing these every hour on the hour. If your schedule is a bit unpredictable, consider some of these shoulder openers after those long Zoom calls or during your lunch break.
Torso Twist
The more you rotate your torso with intention, the more resilient you can become against accidental rotation. You’ll strengthen your obliques, back, and abs all at once, leading to a stronger ability to resist side-to-side bending during big lifts.
Credit: Svitlana Hulko / Shutterstock
If you’re hunched over your phone or computer all day, torso twists help you straighten up and get some lateral and transverse motion in. You can scale this movement to any pace that feels comfortable.
How to Do it
Stand with your feet hips-width apart. Face your toes forward and bend your knees gently.
Bend your elbows and bring your forearms to about a 90-degree angle.
Rotate your shoulders and torso side-to-side while keeping your hips stable. Depending on your desired level of intensity, you can keep your feet planted or pivot your feet and turn your head and neck for a full body twist.
Incorporate your breath into this movement by inhaling and exhaling as you bring your arms from side-to-side.
Move with intention and deliberation instead of whipping quickly from side-to-side. Be sure to slow down gently and stop before you feel dizzy.
Perform torso twists for 30 to 60 seconds once every hour or two — or, every time you take a break from intense movement or stand up from intense sitting.
Mountain Flow
Mountain pose, or tadasana in Sanskrit, is a basic yoga asana — or yoga physical posture. It comes under the classification of Hatha yoga and benefits your ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders.
Credit: Max Katsubo / Shutterstock
You’ll perform several different movements all wrapped into one “flow.” It’s almost like a barbell complex, except you’ll take out the barbell and the heavy breathing. This simple flow — a series of postures done together in a sequence — is a great way to take a few minutes to move any time.
This move can help you prepare yourself for a big lift on the platform, too. It helps you ground yourself and get ready for any obstacles to come. Practicing this outside of the gym can make it easier to tap into that calm confidence inside the gym.
How to Do it
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your toes facing forward.
Let your arms rest at your sides. Take a few deep breaths here.
When you’re ready, lift your arms above your head. Face your palms towards one another and reach your fingertips to the sky. Spend time breathing here and notice where you can both relax your body and lengthen your limbs. This could be in your arms, your shoulders, your chest, your belly, your hips, your legs, or your feet.
Keep your palms parallel and gently extend both of your arms to either side, moving from left to right, then front and back at your own pace.
You can do this for as long as you want while you follow the rhythm of your breath. At any time, you can bring your arms back down and breathe naturally.
Take time out for mountain pose when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Consider taking a minute or two to move through this pose before a work meeting or before getting in your car for the drive home.
Ragdoll Forward Fold
Ragdoll forward fold, or uttanasana, is another yoga asana from the Hatha yoga tradition. It’s a great way to release lower back tension, improve posture, and increase hip flexibility.
Credit: sandsun / Shutterstock
Your hips often get locked up when you spend so much time sitting — or even standing. This forward fold can help you open up your hips to take tension and potential pain away from your lower back. It can also get you primed for your next session in the squat rack by keeping your hips mobile enough to squat deep.
How to Do it
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
Bend your knees generously and reach your fingers down to the floor. Your fingers or palms may come to rest on the ground, or there may be some space between your fingers and the ground.
Either way, keep your knees bent, shift your weight towards your heels, and relax your belly and chest towards or on your thighs.
Let the top of your head get heavy and relax, so you lengthen the muscles in the back of your neck and shoulders.
Breathe naturally, letting the air come in slowly and gently, and let it out effortlessly.
If you want to add some movement to this position, you can lightly rock from your heels to your toes, or swing from side to side, at any pace that is comfortable for you.
If your hips and lower body generally start to feel stiff during the day, drop into this position. You also might want to set an alarm for every half hour or so to remind yourself to move in this way.
Chair Pose
Chair pose, or utkatasana, is a strengthening asana that engages your full body. Chair pose is similar to a basic squat, a dynamic movement that strengthens the lower body.
Credit: RealPeopleStudio / Shutterstock
You can perform a bodyweight squat by lengthening your legs to stand tall, then bending your knees and shifting your weight to your heels to bring your hips down to chair pose. Be sure to place some distance between your feet for this variation so your hips have more room to do the movement.
How to Do it
To do chair pose, first decide where you would like your feet to be. You can place them with some distance between your inner arches if your hips require more space. Alternatively, you can place your feet with your big toes touching together.
Once you are in a comfortable position, bend your knees to lower your hips any amount — it can be a little bit or a lot. Breathe while you are here.
You can place your arms where they feel secure. It could be reaching up above your head or reaching out with your arms out into a T-shape. You could keep your hands together at the center of your chest, on your hips, or at your sides. Stay here and keep breathing.
Squeeze your glutes to stabilize your hips and squeeze your inner thighs to secure your feet. Press your toes down to lower your hips more if you want.
If you’re looking to improve your thoracic mobility, try venturing into reaching your arms over your head during this position. This one will often take a bit more leg strength, so use it when you want to give your lower body a little action without necessarily working up a sweat.
Walking
Walking has many well-known health benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease, improved immune function, and lower blood pressure. Whether you take a long walk or several short trips throughout the day, remember to mix it up by changing your pace, using elements of your environment such as incline to challenge you. Incorporate other activities and people you enjoy into your walk — bring your dog along or meet a friend at the coffee shop.
Credit: Bignai / Shutterstock
If you’re a strength athlete, walks are especially important. They help get your muscles moving and your blood pumping to help aid your muscle recovery process. Going for long and/or vigorous walks also helps improve your cardiovascular endurance, which can come in handy when you’re trying to increase your work capacity in the gym.
How to Do It
Stand tall with your shoulders back and down, away from your ears.
Take a step forward with one foot, then the next.
Keep your arms comfortable and relaxed at your sides.
You can move as slowly or as quickly as you’d like.
Customize your daily walks to your current ability level. If you’re coming back from injury or experience chronic pain, a few minutes of slow walking at a time may be all your body needs for the moment. Gradually increase your time and then, when you’re able, increase the pace.
Do You Need to Move More Even if You Exercise?
Physical activity is any movement that requires your muscles to move and use energy. Just like in the gym, physical activity in daily life takes many forms — from actually doing your workout to vacuuming your apartment.
On the other hand, exercise is a category within physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive. The goal of exercise is improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. So if you’re going to the gym four to six times a week to exercise, you’re getting a lot of physical activity in that respect. But even if you love the gym, you may not be physically active otherwise.
Even when you do vigorous exercise regularly, you may still be largely sedentary if you spend more time sitting than standing or walking. Adding in extra movement throughout your day with simple exercises can help integrate movement into your overall lifestyle instead of having huge blocks of stillness peppered with relatively short bursts of movement.
Benefits of Moving More Outside of the Gym
Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. Here are some of the specifics of why you might want to move more often — even if you work out regularly.
Help Your Mental Health
Depression and anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions, with an estimated 19 percent of adults in the United States experiencing anxiety and 10 percent experiencing depression in the past year. (6) Consistent aerobic and resistance exercises may be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. (6)
Yoga can also be effective in the treatment of anxiety and panic disorder. (6) There is no data that suggests these interventions cause harm in people with mental health conditions, so they are recommended with the understanding that additional treatment or psychotherapy may be needed.
Improve Physical Health
Regular physical activity improves brain function, increases blood flow, strengthens bones and muscles, reduces the risk of certain diseases, and improves your ability to do everyday activities. (3) In many cases, the more you move (within reason), the more you’ll be able to do every day with less pain.
Aid Recovery
Physical activity outside of a fitness setting adds variety to an active lifestyle and creates more opportunities for rest and recovery. Staying active while giving your body time to recover from intense training sessions is a major part of physical progress.
Since many strength athletes love the rigors of training, it can be emotionally tough to stay away from the gym on rest days. By integrating more movement into your everyday life, you may be more likely to stick to your rest times since you’ll give yourself little tastes of low-intensity movement throughout the day.
Tips for Moving More Often Outside the Gym
These simple guidelines can help create a manageable and sustainable plan to move from sedentary behavior patterns to a more active way of living.
Take Regular Breaks From Screens
Fifty percent of all people perform at least one sedentary task daily for work or leisure. (3) The combination of low-energy output and increased mental activity from screens can create metabolic dysfunction. This leads to decreased sleep, increased appetite, hormonal imbalances, and physical stress. (8)
Credit: Cagkan Sayin / Shutterstock
Try taking regular five to 10 minute breaks for every hour you spend being otherwise sedentary. (9) You can get up and grab a snack or a drink, take a walk, talk to a friend or family member, or focus your attention on other interests.
Make Physical Activity a Habit
Make a plan to include physical activity in your routine daily. Taking a regular fitness class, or playing sports with friends or teammates are great options, but physical activity is not limited to high-intensity forms of exercise.
Consider tying your favorite movements described above to a daily habit you already have. For example, perform the ragdoll forward fold to release your hips (and some stress) after work meetings. Take a consistent walk before or after lunch. Do torso twists after brushing your teeth. Whatever moves you want or need to do daily, make it a habit — just like your trips to the gym.
Set Clear Boundaries
We all know the feeling of just wanting to curl up on the couch and binge a show for hours. While this is fun, it can be limiting to making a habit out of physical activity. Set clear boundaries for when, how, and for how long you enjoy sedentary behaviors each day.
Maybe it’s by watching an hour of TV a day, turning your phone off an hour or two before bed, or responding to calls and texts at designated times. When you set clear boundaries for the use of devices, you can significantly reduce the time you spend in sedentary behavior patterns.
Progress Over Perfection
It can feel intimidating to make big lifestyle changes for your health. Progress is not a clear path, so don’t rush to make strides too quickly. Try adding one low-intensity exercise to your daily routine and see how it feels. Once this becomes routine, add another, then another. Eventually, you’ll find yourself moving more often — or with higher emphasis on mobility and recovery — every day.
Remember to start small and stay consistent. Focus on your progress no matter how small, trust yourself, and celebrate your wins. And yes, torso twists now count as wins.
Featured Image: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock
You go as hard as you can in the gym. But even if you train multiple times a week with hour-long sessions, you’re still spending the overwhelming majority of your time not working out. If you want what’s best for your gains, it’s important to think outside of the four walls of your gym.
It’s possible that you have a job that keeps you on your feet and active for most of the day, in which case you might want to focus on restorative movements that will help keep you mobile and injury-free. But it’s also possible that your job requires you to sit… and sit… and sit. If you want to move more during the day, try these simple, accessible exercises to keep you going.
Ways to Move More During the Day
What Does it Mean to Be Sedentary?
Sedentary activity refers to any activity that requires a low energy output, especially if that activity takes place in a seated or reclined position. Physical inactivity is a lack of moderate to vigorous exercise in sufficient amounts. What constitutes “sufficient” varies from person-to-person, but the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity for adults.
Credit: New Africa / Shutterstock
For people with various disabilities — for example, wheelchair users and/or people with chronic pain — research suggests that it’s less important to focus on the total amount of time spent doing physical activity. Instead, focus on giving yourself short breaks from being completely sedentary if, when, and how you feel able to do so. (1)(2)
Even if you’re a gym rat, you can still have an overall sedentary lifestyle, which makes sedentary behavior slightly different from physical activity. Correcting sedentary behavior can be as simple as increasing your physical activity in small ways throughout the day. (3)(4)
Movements to Increase Your Daily Activity
Let’s explore some simple ways to incorporate movement into your daily routine. You can modify these movements to align with the needs of your body. These moves will help strength athletes with sedentary jobs keep active throughout long days of sitting.
Simple daily exercises can also help strength athletes with very physically active jobs to maintain joint mobility and integrate soothing movements that can help aid recovery. Remember to listen to the true feelings of your body, to avoid movements that don’t feel good, and to consult a medical professional before starting a new training plan.
Breathing Exercise
Dedicating time and attention to your breath can help you build the foundation for undertaking more vigorous activity. By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can create the conditions to become more aware of your own body as a whole.
The respiratory system brings oxygen to the cells in your muscles, which allows them to contract and create tension for movement in your body. As few as six long, steady breaths can have a regulating effect on your nervous system. (5)
Credit: Pheelings media / Shutterstock
By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can ease your recovery by calming your nervous system. To brace effectively under heavy loads, you also need to learn to consciously control your breath. Practicing some form of breath control daily can help you stay calm, keep your muscles tight, and keep your mind in control on the platform.
How to Do it
Shoulder Opener
Releasing tension in your shoulders isn’t just a good way to relax. Your shoulders have a direct relationship with the effectiveness of your lifting routines. With good shoulder mobility, you can start to unlock more achievements in the gym — think overhead squats and snatches. You’ll also open your chest muscles that may be crunched over all day if you’ve got a job that requires a lot of screen time.
Credit: LightField Studios / Shutterstock
Performing shoulder openers a few times throughout each day is also a good way to help clear brain fog, negative thoughts, and anxiety. (6) You don’t even have to stand up to do these. Perform them from a seated position if you want or need to. (7)
How to Do it
Torso Twist
The more you rotate your torso with intention, the more resilient you can become against accidental rotation. You’ll strengthen your obliques, back, and abs all at once, leading to a stronger ability to resist side-to-side bending during big lifts.
Credit: Svitlana Hulko / Shutterstock
If you’re hunched over your phone or computer all day, torso twists help you straighten up and get some lateral and transverse motion in. You can scale this movement to any pace that feels comfortable.
How to Do it
Mountain Flow
Mountain pose, or tadasana in Sanskrit, is a basic yoga asana — or yoga physical posture. It comes under the classification of Hatha yoga and benefits your ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders.
Credit: Max Katsubo / Shutterstock
You’ll perform several different movements all wrapped into one “flow.” It’s almost like a barbell complex, except you’ll take out the barbell and the heavy breathing. This simple flow — a series of postures done together in a sequence — is a great way to take a few minutes to move any time.
This move can help you prepare yourself for a big lift on the platform, too. It helps you ground yourself and get ready for any obstacles to come. Practicing this outside of the gym can make it easier to tap into that calm confidence inside the gym.
How to Do it
Ragdoll Forward Fold
Ragdoll forward fold, or uttanasana, is another yoga asana from the Hatha yoga tradition. It’s a great way to release lower back tension, improve posture, and increase hip flexibility.
Credit: sandsun / Shutterstock
Your hips often get locked up when you spend so much time sitting — or even standing. This forward fold can help you open up your hips to take tension and potential pain away from your lower back. It can also get you primed for your next session in the squat rack by keeping your hips mobile enough to squat deep.
How to Do it
Chair Pose
Chair pose, or utkatasana, is a strengthening asana that engages your full body. Chair pose is similar to a basic squat, a dynamic movement that strengthens the lower body.
Credit: RealPeopleStudio / Shutterstock
You can perform a bodyweight squat by lengthening your legs to stand tall, then bending your knees and shifting your weight to your heels to bring your hips down to chair pose. Be sure to place some distance between your feet for this variation so your hips have more room to do the movement.
How to Do it
Walking
Walking has many well-known health benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease, improved immune function, and lower blood pressure. Whether you take a long walk or several short trips throughout the day, remember to mix it up by changing your pace, using elements of your environment such as incline to challenge you. Incorporate other activities and people you enjoy into your walk — bring your dog along or meet a friend at the coffee shop.
Credit: Bignai / Shutterstock
If you’re a strength athlete, walks are especially important. They help get your muscles moving and your blood pumping to help aid your muscle recovery process. Going for long and/or vigorous walks also helps improve your cardiovascular endurance, which can come in handy when you’re trying to increase your work capacity in the gym.
How to Do It
Do You Need to Move More Even if You Exercise?
Physical activity is any movement that requires your muscles to move and use energy. Just like in the gym, physical activity in daily life takes many forms — from actually doing your workout to vacuuming your apartment.
On the other hand, exercise is a category within physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive. The goal of exercise is improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. So if you’re going to the gym four to six times a week to exercise, you’re getting a lot of physical activity in that respect. But even if you love the gym, you may not be physically active otherwise.
Even when you do vigorous exercise regularly, you may still be largely sedentary if you spend more time sitting than standing or walking. Adding in extra movement throughout your day with simple exercises can help integrate movement into your overall lifestyle instead of having huge blocks of stillness peppered with relatively short bursts of movement.
Benefits of Moving More Outside of the Gym
Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. Here are some of the specifics of why you might want to move more often — even if you work out regularly.
Help Your Mental Health
Depression and anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions, with an estimated 19 percent of adults in the United States experiencing anxiety and 10 percent experiencing depression in the past year. (6) Consistent aerobic and resistance exercises may be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. (6)
Yoga can also be effective in the treatment of anxiety and panic disorder. (6) There is no data that suggests these interventions cause harm in people with mental health conditions, so they are recommended with the understanding that additional treatment or psychotherapy may be needed.
Improve Physical Health
Regular physical activity improves brain function, increases blood flow, strengthens bones and muscles, reduces the risk of certain diseases, and improves your ability to do everyday activities. (3) In many cases, the more you move (within reason), the more you’ll be able to do every day with less pain.
Aid Recovery
Physical activity outside of a fitness setting adds variety to an active lifestyle and creates more opportunities for rest and recovery. Staying active while giving your body time to recover from intense training sessions is a major part of physical progress.
Since many strength athletes love the rigors of training, it can be emotionally tough to stay away from the gym on rest days. By integrating more movement into your everyday life, you may be more likely to stick to your rest times since you’ll give yourself little tastes of low-intensity movement throughout the day.
Tips for Moving More Often Outside the Gym
These simple guidelines can help create a manageable and sustainable plan to move from sedentary behavior patterns to a more active way of living.
Take Regular Breaks From Screens
Fifty percent of all people perform at least one sedentary task daily for work or leisure. (3) The combination of low-energy output and increased mental activity from screens can create metabolic dysfunction. This leads to decreased sleep, increased appetite, hormonal imbalances, and physical stress. (8)
Credit: Cagkan Sayin / Shutterstock
Try taking regular five to 10 minute breaks for every hour you spend being otherwise sedentary. (9) You can get up and grab a snack or a drink, take a walk, talk to a friend or family member, or focus your attention on other interests.
Make Physical Activity a Habit
Make a plan to include physical activity in your routine daily. Taking a regular fitness class, or playing sports with friends or teammates are great options, but physical activity is not limited to high-intensity forms of exercise.
Consider tying your favorite movements described above to a daily habit you already have. For example, perform the ragdoll forward fold to release your hips (and some stress) after work meetings. Take a consistent walk before or after lunch. Do torso twists after brushing your teeth. Whatever moves you want or need to do daily, make it a habit — just like your trips to the gym.
Set Clear Boundaries
We all know the feeling of just wanting to curl up on the couch and binge a show for hours. While this is fun, it can be limiting to making a habit out of physical activity. Set clear boundaries for when, how, and for how long you enjoy sedentary behaviors each day.
Maybe it’s by watching an hour of TV a day, turning your phone off an hour or two before bed, or responding to calls and texts at designated times. When you set clear boundaries for the use of devices, you can significantly reduce the time you spend in sedentary behavior patterns.
Progress Over Perfection
It can feel intimidating to make big lifestyle changes for your health. Progress is not a clear path, so don’t rush to make strides too quickly. Try adding one low-intensity exercise to your daily routine and see how it feels. Once this becomes routine, add another, then another. Eventually, you’ll find yourself moving more often — or with higher emphasis on mobility and recovery — every day.
Remember to start small and stay consistent. Focus on your progress no matter how small, trust yourself, and celebrate your wins. And yes, torso twists now count as wins.
Featured Image: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock
Click here to view the article.
It’s possible that you have a job that keeps you on your feet and active for most of the day, in which case you might want to focus on restorative movements that will help keep you mobile and injury-free. But it’s also possible that your job requires you to sit… and sit… and sit. If you want to move more during the day, try these simple, accessible exercises to keep you going.
Ways to Move More During the Day
What Does it Mean to Be Sedentary?
Sedentary activity refers to any activity that requires a low energy output, especially if that activity takes place in a seated or reclined position. Physical inactivity is a lack of moderate to vigorous exercise in sufficient amounts. What constitutes “sufficient” varies from person-to-person, but the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity for adults.
Credit: New Africa / Shutterstock
For people with various disabilities — for example, wheelchair users and/or people with chronic pain — research suggests that it’s less important to focus on the total amount of time spent doing physical activity. Instead, focus on giving yourself short breaks from being completely sedentary if, when, and how you feel able to do so. (1)(2)
Even if you’re a gym rat, you can still have an overall sedentary lifestyle, which makes sedentary behavior slightly different from physical activity. Correcting sedentary behavior can be as simple as increasing your physical activity in small ways throughout the day. (3)(4)
Movements to Increase Your Daily Activity
Let’s explore some simple ways to incorporate movement into your daily routine. You can modify these movements to align with the needs of your body. These moves will help strength athletes with sedentary jobs keep active throughout long days of sitting.
Simple daily exercises can also help strength athletes with very physically active jobs to maintain joint mobility and integrate soothing movements that can help aid recovery. Remember to listen to the true feelings of your body, to avoid movements that don’t feel good, and to consult a medical professional before starting a new training plan.
Breathing Exercise
Dedicating time and attention to your breath can help you build the foundation for undertaking more vigorous activity. By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can create the conditions to become more aware of your own body as a whole.
The respiratory system brings oxygen to the cells in your muscles, which allows them to contract and create tension for movement in your body. As few as six long, steady breaths can have a regulating effect on your nervous system. (5)
Credit: Pheelings media / Shutterstock
By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can ease your recovery by calming your nervous system. To brace effectively under heavy loads, you also need to learn to consciously control your breath. Practicing some form of breath control daily can help you stay calm, keep your muscles tight, and keep your mind in control on the platform.
How to Do it
Breathe deeply in through your nose. Count slowly in your head to keep track of how many seconds you can comfortably breathe in for. If you can easily get to a count of eight, keep that pace consistent. If you can easily get to a count of three, keep that pace consistent.
Exhale slowly through your mouth. Try to count to the same number you count to with your inhales.
Start with five or 10 breaths at a pace that’s comfortable. Gradually increase the length of your inhales and exhales as desired.
You might opt to spend a full minute or two focusing on your breath every hour or every couple of hours. Consider also connecting your breathing activity to specific tasks you know you’ll do every day. Perhaps spend a minute on breathing exercises before you dive into your work email, and another time before you close your laptop for the day.
Shoulder Opener
Releasing tension in your shoulders isn’t just a good way to relax. Your shoulders have a direct relationship with the effectiveness of your lifting routines. With good shoulder mobility, you can start to unlock more achievements in the gym — think overhead squats and snatches. You’ll also open your chest muscles that may be crunched over all day if you’ve got a job that requires a lot of screen time.
Credit: LightField Studios / Shutterstock
Performing shoulder openers a few times throughout each day is also a good way to help clear brain fog, negative thoughts, and anxiety. (6) You don’t even have to stand up to do these. Perform them from a seated position if you want or need to. (7)
How to Do it
Sit or stand tall with your chest lifted and your shoulders comfortably relaxed. Keep them down and away from your ears.
Bend your elbows and interlace your fingers behind your head.
Look up to the sky to lift your chest and bring your elbows out wide. Take a deep breath in while you’re here.
Then, look down towards your belly, tuck your chin to your chest, and close your elbows in front of your face. Fully exhale here in this position.
Repeat these steps to the rhythm of your breath as many times as you need to.
Whenever you are ready, you can bring your arms down, relax your shoulders and your chest, and breathe naturally.
Try doing these every hour on the hour. If your schedule is a bit unpredictable, consider some of these shoulder openers after those long Zoom calls or during your lunch break.
Torso Twist
The more you rotate your torso with intention, the more resilient you can become against accidental rotation. You’ll strengthen your obliques, back, and abs all at once, leading to a stronger ability to resist side-to-side bending during big lifts.
Credit: Svitlana Hulko / Shutterstock
If you’re hunched over your phone or computer all day, torso twists help you straighten up and get some lateral and transverse motion in. You can scale this movement to any pace that feels comfortable.
How to Do it
Stand with your feet hips-width apart. Face your toes forward and bend your knees gently.
Bend your elbows and bring your forearms to about a 90-degree angle.
Rotate your shoulders and torso side-to-side while keeping your hips stable. Depending on your desired level of intensity, you can keep your feet planted or pivot your feet and turn your head and neck for a full body twist.
Incorporate your breath into this movement by inhaling and exhaling as you bring your arms from side-to-side.
Move with intention and deliberation instead of whipping quickly from side-to-side. Be sure to slow down gently and stop before you feel dizzy.
Perform torso twists for 30 to 60 seconds once every hour or two — or, every time you take a break from intense movement or stand up from intense sitting.
Mountain Flow
Mountain pose, or tadasana in Sanskrit, is a basic yoga asana — or yoga physical posture. It comes under the classification of Hatha yoga and benefits your ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders.
Credit: Max Katsubo / Shutterstock
You’ll perform several different movements all wrapped into one “flow.” It’s almost like a barbell complex, except you’ll take out the barbell and the heavy breathing. This simple flow — a series of postures done together in a sequence — is a great way to take a few minutes to move any time.
This move can help you prepare yourself for a big lift on the platform, too. It helps you ground yourself and get ready for any obstacles to come. Practicing this outside of the gym can make it easier to tap into that calm confidence inside the gym.
How to Do it
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your toes facing forward.
Let your arms rest at your sides. Take a few deep breaths here.
When you’re ready, lift your arms above your head. Face your palms towards one another and reach your fingertips to the sky. Spend time breathing here and notice where you can both relax your body and lengthen your limbs. This could be in your arms, your shoulders, your chest, your belly, your hips, your legs, or your feet.
Keep your palms parallel and gently extend both of your arms to either side, moving from left to right, then front and back at your own pace.
You can do this for as long as you want while you follow the rhythm of your breath. At any time, you can bring your arms back down and breathe naturally.
Take time out for mountain pose when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Consider taking a minute or two to move through this pose before a work meeting or before getting in your car for the drive home.
Ragdoll Forward Fold
Ragdoll forward fold, or uttanasana, is another yoga asana from the Hatha yoga tradition. It’s a great way to release lower back tension, improve posture, and increase hip flexibility.
Credit: sandsun / Shutterstock
Your hips often get locked up when you spend so much time sitting — or even standing. This forward fold can help you open up your hips to take tension and potential pain away from your lower back. It can also get you primed for your next session in the squat rack by keeping your hips mobile enough to squat deep.
How to Do it
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
Bend your knees generously and reach your fingers down to the floor. Your fingers or palms may come to rest on the ground, or there may be some space between your fingers and the ground.
Either way, keep your knees bent, shift your weight towards your heels, and relax your belly and chest towards or on your thighs.
Let the top of your head get heavy and relax, so you lengthen the muscles in the back of your neck and shoulders.
Breathe naturally, letting the air come in slowly and gently, and let it out effortlessly.
If you want to add some movement to this position, you can lightly rock from your heels to your toes, or swing from side to side, at any pace that is comfortable for you.
If your hips and lower body generally start to feel stiff during the day, drop into this position. You also might want to set an alarm for every half hour or so to remind yourself to move in this way.
Chair Pose
Chair pose, or utkatasana, is a strengthening asana that engages your full body. Chair pose is similar to a basic squat, a dynamic movement that strengthens the lower body.
Credit: RealPeopleStudio / Shutterstock
You can perform a bodyweight squat by lengthening your legs to stand tall, then bending your knees and shifting your weight to your heels to bring your hips down to chair pose. Be sure to place some distance between your feet for this variation so your hips have more room to do the movement.
How to Do it
To do chair pose, first decide where you would like your feet to be. You can place them with some distance between your inner arches if your hips require more space. Alternatively, you can place your feet with your big toes touching together.
Once you are in a comfortable position, bend your knees to lower your hips any amount — it can be a little bit or a lot. Breathe while you are here.
You can place your arms where they feel secure. It could be reaching up above your head or reaching out with your arms out into a T-shape. You could keep your hands together at the center of your chest, on your hips, or at your sides. Stay here and keep breathing.
Squeeze your glutes to stabilize your hips and squeeze your inner thighs to secure your feet. Press your toes down to lower your hips more if you want.
If you’re looking to improve your thoracic mobility, try venturing into reaching your arms over your head during this position. This one will often take a bit more leg strength, so use it when you want to give your lower body a little action without necessarily working up a sweat.
Walking
Walking has many well-known health benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease, improved immune function, and lower blood pressure. Whether you take a long walk or several short trips throughout the day, remember to mix it up by changing your pace, using elements of your environment such as incline to challenge you. Incorporate other activities and people you enjoy into your walk — bring your dog along or meet a friend at the coffee shop.
Credit: Bignai / Shutterstock
If you’re a strength athlete, walks are especially important. They help get your muscles moving and your blood pumping to help aid your muscle recovery process. Going for long and/or vigorous walks also helps improve your cardiovascular endurance, which can come in handy when you’re trying to increase your work capacity in the gym.
How to Do It
Stand tall with your shoulders back and down, away from your ears.
Take a step forward with one foot, then the next.
Keep your arms comfortable and relaxed at your sides.
You can move as slowly or as quickly as you’d like.
Customize your daily walks to your current ability level. If you’re coming back from injury or experience chronic pain, a few minutes of slow walking at a time may be all your body needs for the moment. Gradually increase your time and then, when you’re able, increase the pace.
Do You Need to Move More Even if You Exercise?
Physical activity is any movement that requires your muscles to move and use energy. Just like in the gym, physical activity in daily life takes many forms — from actually doing your workout to vacuuming your apartment.
On the other hand, exercise is a category within physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive. The goal of exercise is improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. So if you’re going to the gym four to six times a week to exercise, you’re getting a lot of physical activity in that respect. But even if you love the gym, you may not be physically active otherwise.
Even when you do vigorous exercise regularly, you may still be largely sedentary if you spend more time sitting than standing or walking. Adding in extra movement throughout your day with simple exercises can help integrate movement into your overall lifestyle instead of having huge blocks of stillness peppered with relatively short bursts of movement.
Benefits of Moving More Outside of the Gym
Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. Here are some of the specifics of why you might want to move more often — even if you work out regularly.
Help Your Mental Health
Depression and anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions, with an estimated 19 percent of adults in the United States experiencing anxiety and 10 percent experiencing depression in the past year. (6) Consistent aerobic and resistance exercises may be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. (6)
Yoga can also be effective in the treatment of anxiety and panic disorder. (6) There is no data that suggests these interventions cause harm in people with mental health conditions, so they are recommended with the understanding that additional treatment or psychotherapy may be needed.
Improve Physical Health
Regular physical activity improves brain function, increases blood flow, strengthens bones and muscles, reduces the risk of certain diseases, and improves your ability to do everyday activities. (3) In many cases, the more you move (within reason), the more you’ll be able to do every day with less pain.
Aid Recovery
Physical activity outside of a fitness setting adds variety to an active lifestyle and creates more opportunities for rest and recovery. Staying active while giving your body time to recover from intense training sessions is a major part of physical progress.
Since many strength athletes love the rigors of training, it can be emotionally tough to stay away from the gym on rest days. By integrating more movement into your everyday life, you may be more likely to stick to your rest times since you’ll give yourself little tastes of low-intensity movement throughout the day.
Tips for Moving More Often Outside the Gym
These simple guidelines can help create a manageable and sustainable plan to move from sedentary behavior patterns to a more active way of living.
Take Regular Breaks From Screens
Fifty percent of all people perform at least one sedentary task daily for work or leisure. (3) The combination of low-energy output and increased mental activity from screens can create metabolic dysfunction. This leads to decreased sleep, increased appetite, hormonal imbalances, and physical stress. (8)
Credit: Cagkan Sayin / Shutterstock
Try taking regular five to 10 minute breaks for every hour you spend being otherwise sedentary. (9) You can get up and grab a snack or a drink, take a walk, talk to a friend or family member, or focus your attention on other interests.
Make Physical Activity a Habit
Make a plan to include physical activity in your routine daily. Taking a regular fitness class, or playing sports with friends or teammates are great options, but physical activity is not limited to high-intensity forms of exercise.
Consider tying your favorite movements described above to a daily habit you already have. For example, perform the ragdoll forward fold to release your hips (and some stress) after work meetings. Take a consistent walk before or after lunch. Do torso twists after brushing your teeth. Whatever moves you want or need to do daily, make it a habit — just like your trips to the gym.
Set Clear Boundaries
We all know the feeling of just wanting to curl up on the couch and binge a show for hours. While this is fun, it can be limiting to making a habit out of physical activity. Set clear boundaries for when, how, and for how long you enjoy sedentary behaviors each day.
Maybe it’s by watching an hour of TV a day, turning your phone off an hour or two before bed, or responding to calls and texts at designated times. When you set clear boundaries for the use of devices, you can significantly reduce the time you spend in sedentary behavior patterns.
Progress Over Perfection
It can feel intimidating to make big lifestyle changes for your health. Progress is not a clear path, so don’t rush to make strides too quickly. Try adding one low-intensity exercise to your daily routine and see how it feels. Once this becomes routine, add another, then another. Eventually, you’ll find yourself moving more often — or with higher emphasis on mobility and recovery — every day.
Remember to start small and stay consistent. Focus on your progress no matter how small, trust yourself, and celebrate your wins. And yes, torso twists now count as wins.
Featured Image: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock
You go as hard as you can in the gym. But even if you train multiple times a week with hour-long sessions, you’re still spending the overwhelming majority of your time not working out. If you want what’s best for your gains, it’s important to think outside of the four walls of your gym.
It’s possible that you have a job that keeps you on your feet and active for most of the day, in which case you might want to focus on restorative movements that will help keep you mobile and injury-free. But it’s also possible that your job requires you to sit… and sit… and sit. If you want to move more during the day, try these simple, accessible exercises to keep you going.
Ways to Move More During the Day
What Does it Mean to Be Sedentary?
Sedentary activity refers to any activity that requires a low energy output, especially if that activity takes place in a seated or reclined position. Physical inactivity is a lack of moderate to vigorous exercise in sufficient amounts. What constitutes “sufficient” varies from person-to-person, but the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity for adults.
Credit: New Africa / Shutterstock
For people with various disabilities — for example, wheelchair users and/or people with chronic pain — research suggests that it’s less important to focus on the total amount of time spent doing physical activity. Instead, focus on giving yourself short breaks from being completely sedentary if, when, and how you feel able to do so. (1)(2)
Even if you’re a gym rat, you can still have an overall sedentary lifestyle, which makes sedentary behavior slightly different from physical activity. Correcting sedentary behavior can be as simple as increasing your physical activity in small ways throughout the day. (3)(4)
Movements to Increase Your Daily Activity
Let’s explore some simple ways to incorporate movement into your daily routine. You can modify these movements to align with the needs of your body. These moves will help strength athletes with sedentary jobs keep active throughout long days of sitting.
Simple daily exercises can also help strength athletes with very physically active jobs to maintain joint mobility and integrate soothing movements that can help aid recovery. Remember to listen to the true feelings of your body, to avoid movements that don’t feel good, and to consult a medical professional before starting a new training plan.
Breathing Exercise
Dedicating time and attention to your breath can help you build the foundation for undertaking more vigorous activity. By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can create the conditions to become more aware of your own body as a whole.
The respiratory system brings oxygen to the cells in your muscles, which allows them to contract and create tension for movement in your body. As few as six long, steady breaths can have a regulating effect on your nervous system. (5)
By simply paying attention to the quality and frequency of your breath, you can ease your recovery by calming your nervous system. To brace effectively under heavy loads, you also need to learn to consciously control your breath. Practicing some form of breath control daily can help you stay calm, keep your muscles tight, and keep your mind in control on the platform.
How to Do it
- Breathe deeply in through your nose. Count slowly in your head to keep track of how many seconds you can comfortably breathe in for. If you can easily get to a count of eight, keep that pace consistent. If you can easily get to a count of three, keep that pace consistent.
- Exhale slowly through your mouth. Try to count to the same number you count to with your inhales.
- Start with five or 10 breaths at a pace that’s comfortable. Gradually increase the length of your inhales and exhales as desired.
Shoulder Opener
Releasing tension in your shoulders isn’t just a good way to relax. Your shoulders have a direct relationship with the effectiveness of your lifting routines. With good shoulder mobility, you can start to unlock more achievements in the gym — think overhead squats and snatches. You’ll also open your chest muscles that may be crunched over all day if you’ve got a job that requires a lot of screen time.
Performing shoulder openers a few times throughout each day is also a good way to help clear brain fog, negative thoughts, and anxiety. (6) You don’t even have to stand up to do these. Perform them from a seated position if you want or need to. (7)
How to Do it
- Sit or stand tall with your chest lifted and your shoulders comfortably relaxed. Keep them down and away from your ears.
- Bend your elbows and interlace your fingers behind your head.
- Look up to the sky to lift your chest and bring your elbows out wide. Take a deep breath in while you’re here.
- Then, look down towards your belly, tuck your chin to your chest, and close your elbows in front of your face. Fully exhale here in this position.
- Repeat these steps to the rhythm of your breath as many times as you need to.
- Whenever you are ready, you can bring your arms down, relax your shoulders and your chest, and breathe naturally.
Torso Twist
The more you rotate your torso with intention, the more resilient you can become against accidental rotation. You’ll strengthen your obliques, back, and abs all at once, leading to a stronger ability to resist side-to-side bending during big lifts.
If you’re hunched over your phone or computer all day, torso twists help you straighten up and get some lateral and transverse motion in. You can scale this movement to any pace that feels comfortable.
How to Do it
- Stand with your feet hips-width apart. Face your toes forward and bend your knees gently.
- Bend your elbows and bring your forearms to about a 90-degree angle.
- Rotate your shoulders and torso side-to-side while keeping your hips stable. Depending on your desired level of intensity, you can keep your feet planted or pivot your feet and turn your head and neck for a full body twist.
- Incorporate your breath into this movement by inhaling and exhaling as you bring your arms from side-to-side.
- Move with intention and deliberation instead of whipping quickly from side-to-side. Be sure to slow down gently and stop before you feel dizzy.
Mountain Flow
Mountain pose, or tadasana in Sanskrit, is a basic yoga asana — or yoga physical posture. It comes under the classification of Hatha yoga and benefits your ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders.
You’ll perform several different movements all wrapped into one “flow.” It’s almost like a barbell complex, except you’ll take out the barbell and the heavy breathing. This simple flow — a series of postures done together in a sequence — is a great way to take a few minutes to move any time.
This move can help you prepare yourself for a big lift on the platform, too. It helps you ground yourself and get ready for any obstacles to come. Practicing this outside of the gym can make it easier to tap into that calm confidence inside the gym.
How to Do it
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your toes facing forward.
- Let your arms rest at your sides. Take a few deep breaths here.
- When you’re ready, lift your arms above your head. Face your palms towards one another and reach your fingertips to the sky. Spend time breathing here and notice where you can both relax your body and lengthen your limbs. This could be in your arms, your shoulders, your chest, your belly, your hips, your legs, or your feet.
- Keep your palms parallel and gently extend both of your arms to either side, moving from left to right, then front and back at your own pace.
- You can do this for as long as you want while you follow the rhythm of your breath. At any time, you can bring your arms back down and breathe naturally.
Ragdoll Forward Fold
Ragdoll forward fold, or uttanasana, is another yoga asana from the Hatha yoga tradition. It’s a great way to release lower back tension, improve posture, and increase hip flexibility.
Your hips often get locked up when you spend so much time sitting — or even standing. This forward fold can help you open up your hips to take tension and potential pain away from your lower back. It can also get you primed for your next session in the squat rack by keeping your hips mobile enough to squat deep.
How to Do it
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Bend your knees generously and reach your fingers down to the floor. Your fingers or palms may come to rest on the ground, or there may be some space between your fingers and the ground.
- Either way, keep your knees bent, shift your weight towards your heels, and relax your belly and chest towards or on your thighs.
- Let the top of your head get heavy and relax, so you lengthen the muscles in the back of your neck and shoulders.
- Breathe naturally, letting the air come in slowly and gently, and let it out effortlessly.
- If you want to add some movement to this position, you can lightly rock from your heels to your toes, or swing from side to side, at any pace that is comfortable for you.
Chair Pose
Chair pose, or utkatasana, is a strengthening asana that engages your full body. Chair pose is similar to a basic squat, a dynamic movement that strengthens the lower body.
You can perform a bodyweight squat by lengthening your legs to stand tall, then bending your knees and shifting your weight to your heels to bring your hips down to chair pose. Be sure to place some distance between your feet for this variation so your hips have more room to do the movement.
How to Do it
- To do chair pose, first decide where you would like your feet to be. You can place them with some distance between your inner arches if your hips require more space. Alternatively, you can place your feet with your big toes touching together.
- Once you are in a comfortable position, bend your knees to lower your hips any amount — it can be a little bit or a lot. Breathe while you are here.
- You can place your arms where they feel secure. It could be reaching up above your head or reaching out with your arms out into a T-shape. You could keep your hands together at the center of your chest, on your hips, or at your sides. Stay here and keep breathing.
- Squeeze your glutes to stabilize your hips and squeeze your inner thighs to secure your feet. Press your toes down to lower your hips more if you want.
Walking
Walking has many well-known health benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease, improved immune function, and lower blood pressure. Whether you take a long walk or several short trips throughout the day, remember to mix it up by changing your pace, using elements of your environment such as incline to challenge you. Incorporate other activities and people you enjoy into your walk — bring your dog along or meet a friend at the coffee shop.
If you’re a strength athlete, walks are especially important. They help get your muscles moving and your blood pumping to help aid your muscle recovery process. Going for long and/or vigorous walks also helps improve your cardiovascular endurance, which can come in handy when you’re trying to increase your work capacity in the gym.
How to Do It
- Stand tall with your shoulders back and down, away from your ears.
- Take a step forward with one foot, then the next.
- Keep your arms comfortable and relaxed at your sides.
- You can move as slowly or as quickly as you’d like.
Do You Need to Move More Even if You Exercise?
Physical activity is any movement that requires your muscles to move and use energy. Just like in the gym, physical activity in daily life takes many forms — from actually doing your workout to vacuuming your apartment.
On the other hand, exercise is a category within physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive. The goal of exercise is improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. So if you’re going to the gym four to six times a week to exercise, you’re getting a lot of physical activity in that respect. But even if you love the gym, you may not be physically active otherwise.
Even when you do vigorous exercise regularly, you may still be largely sedentary if you spend more time sitting than standing or walking. Adding in extra movement throughout your day with simple exercises can help integrate movement into your overall lifestyle instead of having huge blocks of stillness peppered with relatively short bursts of movement.
Benefits of Moving More Outside of the Gym
Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. Here are some of the specifics of why you might want to move more often — even if you work out regularly.
Help Your Mental Health
Depression and anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions, with an estimated 19 percent of adults in the United States experiencing anxiety and 10 percent experiencing depression in the past year. (6) Consistent aerobic and resistance exercises may be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. (6)
Yoga can also be effective in the treatment of anxiety and panic disorder. (6) There is no data that suggests these interventions cause harm in people with mental health conditions, so they are recommended with the understanding that additional treatment or psychotherapy may be needed.
Improve Physical Health
Regular physical activity improves brain function, increases blood flow, strengthens bones and muscles, reduces the risk of certain diseases, and improves your ability to do everyday activities. (3) In many cases, the more you move (within reason), the more you’ll be able to do every day with less pain.
Aid Recovery
Physical activity outside of a fitness setting adds variety to an active lifestyle and creates more opportunities for rest and recovery. Staying active while giving your body time to recover from intense training sessions is a major part of physical progress.
Since many strength athletes love the rigors of training, it can be emotionally tough to stay away from the gym on rest days. By integrating more movement into your everyday life, you may be more likely to stick to your rest times since you’ll give yourself little tastes of low-intensity movement throughout the day.
Tips for Moving More Often Outside the Gym
These simple guidelines can help create a manageable and sustainable plan to move from sedentary behavior patterns to a more active way of living.
Take Regular Breaks From Screens
Fifty percent of all people perform at least one sedentary task daily for work or leisure. (3) The combination of low-energy output and increased mental activity from screens can create metabolic dysfunction. This leads to decreased sleep, increased appetite, hormonal imbalances, and physical stress. (8)
Try taking regular five to 10 minute breaks for every hour you spend being otherwise sedentary. (9) You can get up and grab a snack or a drink, take a walk, talk to a friend or family member, or focus your attention on other interests.
Make Physical Activity a Habit
Make a plan to include physical activity in your routine daily. Taking a regular fitness class, or playing sports with friends or teammates are great options, but physical activity is not limited to high-intensity forms of exercise.
Consider tying your favorite movements described above to a daily habit you already have. For example, perform the ragdoll forward fold to release your hips (and some stress) after work meetings. Take a consistent walk before or after lunch. Do torso twists after brushing your teeth. Whatever moves you want or need to do daily, make it a habit — just like your trips to the gym.
Set Clear Boundaries
We all know the feeling of just wanting to curl up on the couch and binge a show for hours. While this is fun, it can be limiting to making a habit out of physical activity. Set clear boundaries for when, how, and for how long you enjoy sedentary behaviors each day.
Maybe it’s by watching an hour of TV a day, turning your phone off an hour or two before bed, or responding to calls and texts at designated times. When you set clear boundaries for the use of devices, you can significantly reduce the time you spend in sedentary behavior patterns.
Progress Over Perfection
It can feel intimidating to make big lifestyle changes for your health. Progress is not a clear path, so don’t rush to make strides too quickly. Try adding one low-intensity exercise to your daily routine and see how it feels. Once this becomes routine, add another, then another. Eventually, you’ll find yourself moving more often — or with higher emphasis on mobility and recovery — every day.
Remember to start small and stay consistent. Focus on your progress no matter how small, trust yourself, and celebrate your wins. And yes, torso twists now count as wins.
Featured Image: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock
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