A Case for Movement - Please, do not go gently...

With frequent sitting, it's common that stiffness and soreness are the norm rather than the exception. The antidote? Movement! Your body was designed to move. Think about it: there was a time in human history when we needed to catch or find our own food to eat and build shelter to sleep safely. At one point, the activities that sustained life was all there was to life. Of course, those days are long gone. Our big brains allowed us to develop smarter and more resourceful ways to get things done, leaving us with more time to create new products and new ways to spend our time. Today, we prize convenience and treasure anything that saves us time. Now, we don't even have to leave our homes to buy groceries-- food can be delivered right to your doorstep, and you can even have it hot and ready to eat, requiring essentially no work at all other than digesting. While all this is great from a reduced-effort standpoint, it's not good from a movement perspective. As I said, your body is made to move. Movement supports all body functions, from circulation to digestion to sleep. Things flow better and work more efficiently when you move regularly. Your body even releases feel-good chemicals when it's exercised. Everyone knows that exercise is good for you and you may even know it from the flip side: lack of movement is detrimental to your health. I've even heard this catchy phrase that attempts to drive this point home, "Sitting is the new smoking." Often our jobs require us to sit all day and when we're done, we just want to c h i l l. So, getting the exercise we need can be really hard. The question is: Can you afford not to move? What you don't use, you lose. That's part of the body's amazing power of adaptability. Because movement and exercise are interconnected with all of our body systems, deconditioning means not only losing the ability to move with strength and grace, but also compromising all of the added restorative and protective benefits that go along with it. In that way, sitting is the new smoking. Essentially, movement is freedom. When your body works the way it should, you can do what you want to do. When it doesn't, you are limited. This happens so gradually, people don't notice the backslide until they try to do something that was once easy and realize they now struggle with it. You can fight the loss of capability by doing a little preventive work. Purposefully, move to maintain your freedom! Here's how, even if you're a desk-jockey, have a busy schedule and/or you're already pretty deconditioned.

• If you're desk-bound for most of the day, move at your desk. Get up, sit down. Repeat. Take a phone meeting outside and walk while you talk. You can even do a mini workout like this one right at your desk.

• Tie movement and exercise to a habit that you already do everyday. For instance, work on balancing on one leg while your coffee brews, or do air squats while you brush your teeth. String together a number of these new habits to form a workout. Change them up every month.

• Get mobile. Move each joint in all directions. Discover which joints are tight, moving in various directions and focus on improving your range of motion in those directions specifically. Work mobility for 10-15 minutes a day. Improving mobility helps loosen restrictive tissues, alleviates muscle and joint soreness, improves performance and prevents injury--totally worth a few minutes each day.

• Practice improving your balance by introducing destabilizing factors, like standing on one leg. When you're walking outside, walk along tree roots, step on stones and force your feet and ankles to accommodate the awkward surfaces. Jumping rope also helps your feet and ankles get strong and able to support the full structure and force of your body in motion.

• Take an active class. Learn to rock climb, try restorative yoga, get your groove on in a hip-hop dance class. Use it as an excuse to get out of your box and move your body.

• Find an activity that you can do with friends such as hiking, biking, sailing, swimming or anything of the sort and do it as often as you can. This will move your body and fill your soul at the same time-- a perfect combo.

You don't have to incorporate all of these habits to make strides towards better fitness and fluidity. Finding one or a few new habits that resonate with you is a great step. Having buddies to do them with makes it a whole lot more fun and more likely that you'll continue. The key is to get started now. Don't wait for the magic moment to appear when you feel the overwhelming urge to get up and work out. It won't happen that way. Just start with something small and add to it. Continue on days when you really don't feel like it. You'll make tangible progress and be inspired to keep going. As always, please share what you are doing to stay active and maintain your freedom. Someone else will surely be motivated by you and your awesome progress.