6 tips on how to move more every day
Movement can be an incredibly powerful way to support both our physical and mental health — especially when we combine sessions at the gym with some dynamic movement, sprinkled throughout the whole day. This blog post is for you if you're ready to start adding more movement to your everyday life as a way to take care of yourself.
We, as humans, are meant to move. But oftentimes in today's society, it can be challenging to meet our need for many different types of movement. Many of us are avid gym goers and training nerds — and that's great! But we are missing out on something when we go to the gym for maybe an hour and then spend the rest of the day mostly being still, sitting or standing at a desk at home or at work.
When we keep our bodies active and moving most of the time, when we switch up positions regularly and take breaks for walking around a bit and maybe doing some light stretching — that's when we give our bodies the regular, varied movement that it needs. This helps your body, brain and mind function at their best, keeping them healthy and happy.
Below are some tips and inspiration to get you started with more movement in your everyday life. Try what sounds good to you and leave what doesn't. Listen to your body and be gentle with yourself.
1. Sprinkle some movement all over your day #MovementSnacks
A simple way to move more, is to sprinkle some movement throughout your day. Just as you might grab a snack when you're feeling low on energy — you can give yourself a movement snack when you start getting stiff.
Take regular movement breaks
Many of us sit or stand for large portions of the day and this can leave us feeling uncomfortable. A foundation for helping your body feel better now as well as in the long run, is to take regular movement breaks.
For every half hour or hour of being in a static position like sitting or standing still at your desk — take a movement break. You can set an alarm to remind you. Then take a few minutes to walk around and maybe do some light stretches.
Some more movement snack tips
If you usually sit in a chair, how could you switch it up so that your body gets to experience different types of movement? You could try sitting on the floor, changing your positions often. Maybe sitting on a pilates ball would feel nice
Watching TV/Netflix? Sit on the floor and switch up your sitting positions regularly — ease into it. You can also stretch while on the floor
On your phone? Switch up your position or walk around while talking
Try walking meetings at work, if you're co-workers are onboard with it — ask them beforehand to see if they're interested
Stretch while the coffee is brewing
Do some calf raises while brushing your teeth or washing the dishes
Balance on one leg while waiting in line at the grocery store
Squat down on the floor while folding laundry
Have a dance party at home to your fav music
YES, play at the playground - with your kids, with your friends or just by yourself
2. Create changes that encourage movement
There are many things that we can do both at home and the office, to encourage us to move more throughout the day. Below are some suggestions.
Sit/stand desk: A desk, where you can change the height for either sitting or standing at it, allows you to switch it up during the day. There are manual and electric desks on the market, both used and new. If you don't have or don't want to buy a sit/stand desk, you can bring your laptop to a countertop or stack it under some books.
Sleep closer to the floor: A bed on a low platform or on the floor results in more movement by getting in and out of bed every day.
Spend time on the floor: Most of us aren't used to spending time on the floor or the ground and it can be quite uncomfortable in the beginning. Starting to sit more on the floor — while relaxing, reading, working on the laptop or watching Netflix — is a way to increase your mobility. It helps you to start moving your body the way it's supposed to move and to move in many different ways. In the beginning, switch up positions every few minutes or when you start feeling too uncomfortable. You can use bolsters to sit on, that help you prop up your body when you're not yet used to sitting. Examples: sit on cushions/pillows, a folded or rolled up blanket or yoga bolster, yoga blocks or some stacked books. Here are some examples of different ways of sitting: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ThinkOutsideTheChairPoster-2.jpg
Low table/floor table: You can use this in combination with floor sitting, in your living room and for working with your laptop for example. You can cut the legs off a table that you already have, buy a new or used table, or build your own.
3. Establish a daily movement routine that works for you
Another way to start adding more varied movement to your everyday life is to establish a simple daily movement routine. This can be a great addition to your movement snacks.
What to include in your daily movement session
Think about what type of movement feels good in your body and that you enjoy doing. Do you love stretching and yoga? Walking? Dancing? Do that! Pick something that you already enjoy, would like to do more of or something new, that you're excited to get started with. It can be whatever movement you like. The keyword here is joyful movement. You can also switch it up and have different types of movement for different days of the week.
Some examples: Natural movement, mobility, flexibility, stretching, yoga, dancing, walking, running.
You can watch follow along-videos on Youtube or freestyle it. There are also many free and paid online classes and courses on many different types of movement.
Length of your daily movement session
Start small, maybe with just five minutes every morning or evening. This might seem too easy, but it's good to start with something really simple and build from there, instead of taking on a task that turns out to be too long and complicated. Keep it simple and easy.
If five minutes feels too short, know that whatever movement you can squeeze in is really beneficial, and that the aim is to eventually increase this time.
When you feel ready for it, try extending the length of your sessions or try doing it several times a day. First maybe twice a day and then maybe three or even four times a day — whatever works for you and your body. If you miss a day or a few days — be nice to yourself, dial it back and ease yourself back into it.
4. Practice natural movement
Human bodies are meant to, for example: move in different ways on the ground, get up from the ground, sit in many different positions, walk, run, jump, balance, crawl, climb, lift, carry, throw and catch.
There are so many benefits of learning more natural movement like those just mentioned and to move more dynamically over the day. Reconnecting with your body and how it's actually supposed to move and feel is empowering. It can also help minimize aches and pains and other negative impacts of a lifestyle where we're not moving as much as our bodies would like. It can help us live our lives with greater ease, confidence and freedom.
To get started, you can google "natural movement" and any of the skills mentioned above.
5. Start a runstreak — or just a movement streak
A runstreak is when you run 1 mile or 20 minutes every day — a simple way to get in some gentle movement in your daily life. Read more about the benefits of a runstreak here: https://ultrarunningacademy.com/resources/benefits-of-a-runstreak
If running every day isn't your jam, maybe you want to just move in any type of way every day. This doesn't have to be strenuous training that leaves you sweaty — it can be any type of movement that you want to do. Remember to keep it simple and enjoyable.
6. Join a virtual challenge: #FunctionalFebruary
This free movement challenge is perfect if you're ready to start moving more and want to receive some practical movement tips as well as motivation and inspiration from both us organizers and the other participants.
To join the challenge, follow @ultrarunningacademy on Instagram and view the posts that show up there every day! If you’d like to, you can also share your progress in a post or a story and tagging @ultrarunningacademy #FunctionalFebruary.
You can also sign up for weekly recap e-mails sent to you every Sunday of the month — Sign up here!
Join one of our coaching programs: 10 months to ultra
Last but not least, don’t forget to check out our coaching program 10 Months to Ultra — where we cover many of these things and more, helping you to the starting line of your first ultra race!
Suitable for aspiring ultra runners training towards a specific goal or the athlete who wants to use the following 10 months to maximize his or her potential. The program is tailored to help the athlete achieve distances of 50 miles to 100 k.
The next start is June 1st!
Hopefully this blog post has given you some ideas on how to add more movement to your daily life! Leave any comments and questions below and be sure to say hi to us on Instagram, @ultrarunningacademy!