The Key To Increasing Physical Activity Is To Move

It sounds obvious doesn’t it? And I’d argue it is.

But because of the demands and schedules of modern life, we’ve learned to compartmentalize movement and separate it out as a planned and strategized part of the day, independent of the other scheduled aspects of our day.

And we call it exercise.

This isn’t the optimal way to think about movement.

To understand how our bodies respond to movement, we have to look back at movement as an adaption for survival, rather than as a mechanism for health.

Movement Used To Be Part Of Everything

Our ancestors never exercised.

But they were always moving.

Whatever philosophy, theory or religion you ascribe to, there’s one commonality we can all agree on.

Our early ancestors relied on movement to survive.

Whether it was stalking prey over the course of hours or even days to slowly wear it down (speed walking / jogging), harvesting roots, fruit and berries (walking / mobility) or brief bursts of massive strength and speed to defend against a threat (weightlifting / HIIT) our ancestors spent a majority of their day moving.

We Don’t Need To Move To Survive. But We Do Need To Move To Live

Thank to modern life, we no longer need to rely on physical feats to survive.

Our lifestyle has adapted to using cognitive, rather than physical, prowess as our primary means of survival.

From a societal perspective, this is a big win.

But from an individual perspective, there are significant downsides.

Our bodies evolved / were designed to thrive on constant movement as described above.

If we’re not moving, our vitality breaks down and disease starts to creep in.

So we carve out brief time periods throughout the day to mimic the types of movements our ancestors did.

Otherwise known as Exercise.

Everyone Should Exercise. But It’s Not Enough

The scientific literature on exercise is unambiguous and unanimous.

Each of us should be exercising 4 - 5 times per week, ideally varying the modalities between low intensity and high intensity patterns (we’ll get into that next week).

But even if you do follow the recommended guidelines, this isn’t enough.

And if you haven’t included exercise into your life, these time blocks of strenuous activity can seem overwhelming and off putting.

So what’s the answer?

Here’s Your Weekly Charge⚡

I want you to move for at least 5 minutes, every hour of the day.

It’s that simple. Really.

And you can do most of this moving during activities you’re already engaged in, so you don’t need to carve out any extra time or reprioritize your day.

Moving doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact it shouldn’t be.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Getting a standing desk while you work

• Scheduling a walking meeting (hello creativity!)

• Swinging your legs or tapping your fingers during a boring meeting

• Doing a few air squats in between bouts of focus

• Going for a walk on your lunch break

• Stretching, shifting and mobilizing whenever you start to feel stiff

• Taking the stairs

• Skipping instead of walking (this has other added benefits. Never lose your inner child!)

The options are honestly endless. The key is to figure out how to integrate movement.

There’s no upper limit to this.

Challenge yourself, make it fun!

Stay Tuned For Next Week’s Post On Exercise

You don’t want to miss this one, especially if you like to nerd out on the science behind movement!

Want to share your story? Need help with movement? Or do you have questions about today’s post?

I’m here for you.

If you’re a premium subscriber, I’ve got some great efficiency tips for you to stack movement with other beneficial behavioral patterns to optimize your motivation and adherence to new habits.

If you’re not a premium subscriber, but you’re not ready to spend only $7 per month, contact me and I’ll give you this week’s post for free so you can see for yourself!

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