10 Ways You Can Get More Movement into Your Life This Week
How many hours a day do you “formally” exercise?
In scientific research, formal exercise is often defined something like this – a subcategory of physical activity that is planned or structured movement undertaken to improve one or more aspects of our physical health and condition.
“Formal exercise” might be a strength training session with a personal trainer or on your own at the gym, a planned walk or hike with a specific mileage or time, a road or stationary bike/spin class, a dance, yoga, or martial arts class, an interval training work out, soccer practice – you get the drift.
While formal exercise is imperative for a whole host of health and well being reasons, informal movement/physical activity can be a way to easily add additional and varied movement into our lives.
Informal exercise/physical activity is really any bodily movement that is produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure and is typically not planned or structured.
So even if you typically do planned structured exercise one hour a day, sleep 8 hours a day, and work 8 hours a day, you still have 7 hours a day to get creative and add additional informal physical activity into your life.
Research points to the benefits of increased physical activity in bending our own aging curves.
Adding more physical activity doesn’t have to be burdensome, but you might have to make a bit of a plan so you’ll follow through.
Here’s a list of 10 ideas that will help you increase the amount of informal activity in your life to aid in mobility, strength, agility, balance, and energy expenditure.
And from a yoga perspective, this is a wonderful opportunity to bring more present moment “noticing” to your everyday movement habits.
- For every 30 minutes you sit at the computer get up and do 3 minutes of informal movement. I set my timer for 30 minutes as I sat down to compose this blog post. Timer goes off, reset to 3 minutes and get up and move informally/freestyle/whatever feels good – the movement doesn’t need to be planned, but the concept needs to be planned so use timers for accountability. If you work 8 hours a day this is 6 minutes of extra movement per hour or 48 minutes in a work day! That’s a crap ton of extra movement per work day! Watch this speeded up 50 second video of me playing with informal movement for 3 minutes after my timer went off. Get up and move – https://youtube.com/shorts/SQVGruQXxbI?feature=share
- Sit on the floor while you watch television and change positions often.. This is more about changing your shape and movement patterns, which induce mobility and movement of the spine, pelvis, hips, knees, and ankles.
- Stand in tree pose while you brush your teeth. Try the brushing part with your non-dominant hand.
- Park as far away from the entrance of whatever building you are entering whether that is your office, a grocery store, the bank, or an appointment you have this week.
BIG BONUS POINTS if you actually walk or ride your bike to one of these errands/appointments. - Stop at every bench on West Cliff during your walk and do some push ups, step ups, tricep dips, calf stretches, lunges, planks.
If you’re walking for exercise anywhere this week, be creative – stop every 10 minutes and do something other than walking, circle every other tree by side stepping. - Unpack your groceries from the floor up rather than setting the bag on your kitchen counter. Try squatting or hip hinging to the bag or drop into a squat or lunge to say hello to your doggo or kitty.
- Climb the stairs up to your front door or in your house in a new and novel way. Watch me as I play on my stairs. https://youtube.com/shorts/UjTQck36LWg?feature=share
- Lunge or side step from your kitchen to the living room or from your bedroom to your kitchen.
- Use the opposite arm/side to vacuum or sweet a floor.
- Do some counter planks or push ups in between each item you prep for a meal. Tonight I chopped garlic, fresh tumeric, and ginger. After chopping the garlic, 10 counter push ups, after chopping the tumeric, 10 air squats, after chopping the ginger, 10 standing knee lifts.
Make a plan each morning to add one or more of these suggestions into your day.
I’d also be curious to know what you came up with this week to add as informal movement each day. Let me know if the comment section below!
Motion is lotion. Use it or lose it.
Trite?
Maybe, but with a little thought and effort we really can add more movement into our everyday lives and keep bending our own aging curve.
Much love and lots of gratitude,
Laurie BB
