Posted on March 05, 2021 by Kate Halsall

Movement is any motion of the body. It’s pretty broad and therefore there’s no need to over complicate it! Often we can get caught up in thinking exercise is the ultimate goal; to be healthy and active we must exercise. Josh highlighted this in his recent blog about getting your steps in. The key thing to remember is that exercise is movement but movement isn’t always exercise. Doing a 45-minute-high intensity session doesn’t make up for the remaining 12 hours of the day spent sat on the sofa, at the dining table or your home office let alone the only steps you have accumulated are to the different rooms in your home! The purpose of this blog is to highlight ways to get you moving more as part of your daily routine.

Movement is in everyday settings, and something we naturally do. It isn’t structured or always planned, so it should be pretty easy to increase the amount. Being sedentary, and unfortunately studies have shown that we are more likely to be sedentary due to Covid-19, we can put ourselves at some serious health risks. As such, becoming more active can be both physically and mentally beneficial.

Here are some easy movement ideas that you can integrate in your everyday life:

  • If you’re on a Teams or Zoom meeting with your camera off, why not stand up, march on the spot, do some sit to stands
  • Consider ways to stand at your desk and work for 5-10 minutes every hour
  • If you used to commute to work, utilise this time by keeping it in your routine and get a walk in, walk up and down the stairs or do some stretches
  • Walk to the local shop instead of drive
  • It’s spring – time to do some gardening or spring cleaning!
  • Blast some music and dance about
  • Use the microwave timer or kettle boiling wait to stretch, squat, or even do some breath work
  • Remember the Pomodoro Technique? Follow it’s example and incorporate regular breaks in your work schedule to get outside, walk up your stairs or make a drink.
  • Walk and talk! Take the phone call opportunity to get away from your desk.
  • Always park further away from the shops
  • When you’re watching TV, every time an advert comes on get up from the sofa.

The main thing to take into consideration is being honest and think about how active you are, minus any exercise you normally do. Although exercise is highly encouraged, think of it like this: if you exercise 60 minutes a day 5 days a week that’s 300 minutes a week. Let’s say your daily hours are usually 16 hours awake… so far your movement is 300 minutes a week, out of 6420 minutes. Those 300 minutes look much more inferior now compared to the 6420 minutes.

Now think, really think, how long do you spend sitting at your desk working, binge watching your new favourite series or simply chilling out on the sofa. With everything we have mentioned here, how many minutes can you add on to your activity/ movement?

Beth x