Living an “active lifestyle” sounds cliche but it’s a great way to keep your body working the way It should.
We can even add other cliche terms to the mix:
“Movement is medicine”
“Movement is lift”
“Change happens through movement”
The best part about these cliche terms is that, for the most part they are true.
Movement really is medicine, movement a base of our lives, and change is caused by movement.
What we’ve seen is that our life is becoming less and less active. Things are becoming easier making It harder to implement movement into our everyday lives.
Why the hell should I move more?
Our body is meant to move. It can help our body function the way It was meant to. Better blood circulation, adding joint and muscle activation, improving our gait.
Some eastern cultures use walking as a way to help the digestive process after meals.
Keeping our body in motion is a key to many things that we “want” in our lives. Transforming our body, increasing energy, being overall HEALTHIER.
So really why wouldn’t we move more?
It comes down to our everyday lives. If we don’t “need” to move then It’s hard to force ourselves to move.
The most effective way I have found to add more movement into our lives is by plugging in bits and pieces to different times of the day.
1.) Small Walks
Adding in small walks build up over time. A 10 minute walk in the morning, maybe 15 minutes at lunch, and another 10-20 minute walk before or after dinner. They are quick, easy, and almost unnoticeable. Take a phone call, turn on a podcast, play a few songs on a new album. These small walks could add up to 40 minutes of extra movement into your day which could be anywhere from 3,000-4,000 extra steps per day-21,000-28,000 steps per week.
2.) Planned “Extra” Steps
Planning added steps to different tasks can be another way to tack on more movement throughout the day/week.
Everyone has heard of parking farther away when shopping (which is underrated). Other things work like taking an extra lap or two during every snack/bathroom break. Or getting up during each commercial break and doing some steps or hopping down and doing some light movements (stretching, exercises, mobility). Just finding ways to break up the long periods of inactivity (work, watching TV).
3.) Do Productive Work
I talked about this a few months back, but doing regular household tasks builds that activity level more than we realize.
Cleaning rooms, mopping floors, vacuuming, washing windows, dusting window sills, doing laundry. All these things need to get done anyway so might as well find the positive other than just getting It done.
If you have the ability to track your movement for a day, take an hour or two to get some of these things done, you will be surprised at how much movement will be added to that day.
4.) Yard-work
Yes, It sucks. Yes, It’s hard, but It’s also effective.
Nothing about yard-work is “fun” but to be honest, It’s a damn hard bit of activity.
5.) Create a Routine for Movement
This is my top choice for myself, and I don’t just do It to add steps. I do It to make my body feel good.
Creating a routine around a certain activity is a sure way to become consistent with It. For me, I like to do a small bit of stretching right before bed.
It gets me moving, It calms me down, It feels REALLY GOOD.
I now look forward to this time of day to do my 5 minute stretching routine right before bed. But this can be done with anything and at anytime.
Try one, try a few, add some movement into your day, remember “movement is medicine”
In good health,
Jeff
P.S Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways I can help you change the way your body looks and feels…
1.) Would you be interested in testing out our program for two weeks… With no payment?
Right now you can give our program a shot for two weeks with no payment and get on the road to looking and feeling how you really want.
If you are interested in this free test, reply “TEST” to this email.
2.) Come in for a FREE body scan
We are letting you get a better idea of where your starting point is by getting a free InBody scan. This can test your body fat, muscle mass, and water levels.
If you would like a free InBody scan, reply “SCAN” to this email.
3.) Workout Programs
I have been toying with the idea of creating programs for anyone to use and follow. They would come complete with videos, descriptions, and program demos.
If you have any interest in a program such as this, reply “PROGRAM” to this email and I will get you the ideas that I have been thinking about.
