MOVEMENT

People think they are more active than they are.

It’s easy to take what our bodies are capable of for granted. We often don’t utilise them half as well as we could. The many elements of a modern-day lifestyle lock us down into static positions for long periods. At the desk, in the car, on the train.

During a hard day of work, we burn out mentally and physically and crave collapsing onto the sofa at the end of the day. In our head we know that this is counterproductive - it just feels so damn good!

We want to be active. To move more. To utilise what we have.

We can meet this desire by waiting and hoping for the situation to present itself.

“I will do it tomorrow.”

“The weather is horrible.”

“I have had a busy day”

Don’t be a victim of circumstance. If you are, you will move so little that you will limit what your body is capable of. Look forward to aches, pains, and restriction.

You need to command the situation. You need to get out of your head and into your body.

There will always be a reason to stay still. Even if you are on your feet, or even exercising, could you do more?

Probably.

Definitely!

SO HOW SHOULD YOU START?

Start small. Small enough to ensure that you can do it with some consistency.

There is a common perception that training needs to take hours and hours - it is false. All you need to do is go for more than you typically would. if you typically spend all of your time sitting at a desk, a short walk is progress and is far more reasonable to do with consistency than two hours of weight training. The weight training may yield better short term results, but isn't sustainable for someone that currently does little activity. Therfor in the long term, it won't get the results of consistent, albeit less intense, activity.

Little and often is commonly the best remedy. If you find yourself hunched over a laptop for long periods of time you may balance it out with an hour of yoga once a week. That's awesome, but you could add a small amount of movement throughout your week and be far more effective. Why not take once simple stretch that you feel has the most profound positive effect and perform it every day. Even if it's just for a minute, it allows you to test and 'top-up' your range of motion on a more frequent basis.

One of the best things is, small action leads to bigger action. You might set off on a 10-minute walk, but that can easily increase into a 15-minute walk and so on. Before you know it, you start creating the time for movement and end up with one of the healthiest habits you can build.

WHAT NOW?

Fill in this form and your coach will provide you with some feedback.