#5 Increase Your Daily Movement

Simple Ways to Improve Your Health

A 5 Part Series

Movement vs. Exercise

Exercising a few times a week is so great for your body but there are also health benefits to having your body be in motion throughout the day. This doesn’t mean that we need to never sit down and rest but it does mean that not only formal exercise constitutes valid movement. Many people, often due to the nature of their jobs, are mostly sedentary during the day. Therefore, moving around consistently throughout the day can be better than 1 hard hour in the gym.

Making the effort to move more doesn’t require you to buy a gym membership or get new workout gear (you can if you want).

It can be as simple as adding any of these activities to your day or finding the way you like to move:

• Vacuum or clean the house
• Take your bike to the store instead of driving
• Park further away and walk
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Take your kids to the park
• Do 10 squats, pushups, or lunges a few times a day
• Do light stretches or yoga
• Go for walks on your lunch break with a co-worker
• Dance to your favorite music while doing work around the house or while cooking
• Go for a walk with your family after supper

If you find yourself tired throughout the day or stiff when you get up after sitting down you can get up and do some stretching that will make your joints feel better and get your blood flowing to give you more energy. If you sit at a desk or drive most of your day you are mostly sedentary.

A good practice is to get up every 20 mins and move around or stretch for a few minutes.

This can also help your eyes if you are staring at a computer screen. Your eyes can start to feel tired or dried out. I tell my clients who wear contact lenses the 20/20/20 rule: look up every 20 minutes, 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This can apply to your body as well; the more you get up and move around, the better you will feel and the healthier your cells will be.

Simple Ways to Improve Your Health, a 5 part series:

#1 Drink Enough Water Every Day, click here to read

#2 Add Greens To Every Meal, click here to read

#3 Make Sleep a Priority, click here to read

#4 Reduce Stress, click here to read

Reference: Nutritional Therapy Association

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