Now more than ever, everyone is looking to get into shape and stay healthy. With the Coronavirus, it is incredibly important to keep your body moving as well as pouring in whole, nutritional plant-based foods.
Not sure where to start? Most people have a desire to get into shape, but these kinds of questions and then when there’s no instant answer, we all are faced with that little split in the road: we either stop looking or we keep moving forward until we find the answer.
So where do you start? Start with just moving your body regularly throughout the day. I’ll show you below how to do this and how this can help you make great gains in your health.
As noted in this study, just walking 15-30 minutes/day makes a big difference in your immune function.
To really get into the mindset, this line from Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken is very helpful:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Sometimes, we do have to take the road that is less taken. And it makes all the difference in the world. Right now, the world is feeling a lot of tension. Some are at forced rest, some are working harder than ever.
Here’s the thing: if you choose a path such as health, it may be hard at the beginning, but the exciting part is that if we stick to that path, it actually becomes easier and easier to walk. That’s what’s so amazing about habit changes!
I say all of that because finding ways to get our bodies moving in a culture where we are already very sedentary is challenging, but now where we find ourselves without the gym and a bit more confined than usual, it’s actually even more important.
We do not want to come out of this season less healthy. Let’s use this time as a gentle nudge to take care of ourselves so that we exit this season with strength, energy, health, and a greater love for ourselves and those around us.
Regular movement is completely doable if you know a few simple tricks.
Our bodies were made for motion. And while yes I’m a big fan of training plans, program design, and getting into great shape through tweaking the details, the truth is that we can actually do FAR more if we just set our minds to move regularly.
Two powerful keys:
- The first key: Move your body. Just move. It doesn’t matter what you do.
- The second key: Make it enjoyable. If it’s not fun, it won’t be sustainable.
Without these two keys, it will be hard to see long-lasting results. If it’s not enjoyable, you won’t continue to find room for it. Sure, you might be one of those (like me) who can press on and keep going, but eventually, if there’s no joy in it, either your body, mind, or spirit will start to disengage.
Recently I spent a bunch of time reviewing loads of research on what kind of movement is best. Is it cardio? Or maybe the HIIT everyone is talking about? Oh, and everyone knows that strength training is a must!(?). Or is it?
Increase Your “NEAT”ness (Movement levels)
No, the neatness I’m talking about here is not your cleanliness, although that can definitely help! Keep reading to learn more.
A fun set of studies coming out right now are actually demonstrating that small movement all throughout the day are extremely beneficial to boosting your health, metabolism, and immune system.
This “special movement” is called NEAT, or “non-exercise activity thermogenesis.”
Here is an excerpt from one study:
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, undertaking agricultural tasks and fidgeting. Even trivial physical activities increase metabolic rate substantially and it is the cumulative impact of a multitude of exothermic actions that culminate in an individual’s daily NEAT.
Thus, NEAT could be a critical component in how we maintain our body weight and/or develop obesity or lose weight.
By understanding how NEAT is regulated we may come to appreciate that spontaneous physical activity is not spontaneous at all but carefully programmed.
– Taken from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12468415
I hope you read that carefully. This is very important when it comes to losing weight successfully, and keeping your body healthy.
One thing that these studies state is that 2 people of identical weight and body structure can complete the same workouts, eat the same calories, and yet one can remain steady, and the other can lose weight, gain muscle, have more energy, etc. Why? Simply because one person might go do their workout, then sit the rest of the day, while the other person stands, moves arounds, even fidgets throughout the day. These small movements can really add up. In fact, they can add up to 100s of calories (energy) burned in a day!
15 Ideas for increasing NEAT:
- Fidget while you sit.
- Stand up and move around regularly (even just getting up and back down, stretch, etc)
- Walk a little more in between things in the day (walk a little further to the grocery store, walk to the bathroom, to get water, take a walk during a break, etc)
- Set a goal for that 10K in steps (you can still do this if you’re inside your house all day. Just get up and walk around every hour).
- Add in weight training (again, you can use your own bodyweight to make great gains)
- Increase overall movement throughout your day.
- Walk around the block if you can.
- Do the dishes.
- Do some laundry.
- Stretch.
- Do a few squats (unplanned)
- Do a few pushups (unplanned)
- Do a few crunches (unplanned)
- Have a little dance break and laugh a little (laughter also helps heal the body!)
- Try balancing on one leg. This helps increase balance, strength, proprioception (your awareness in space) and all the little muscle fibers all through your feet up to your hips. Try closing your eyes and even taking small slow steps for an extra challenge!
4 Key Types Movements for Everyone
Want to get started with a training program but don’t know where to start? Every good training program contains 4 key elements for overall health and well-being that I want to mention.
Whether you like to run, do strength training, yoga or go for a hike, you will improve your fitness and overall health simply by moving.
Consistency is king when it comes to movement and overall fitness. If you only workout 1-2 days this week, 5 the next, miss a week, 3-4 the next, then you’re definitely helping your body, but you probably won’t see any noticeable gains.
Disclaimer: Any movement is better than no movement. I advocate that even if you only have 5 minutes, you should move your body every single day.
One type of physical fitness isn’t enough: Fitness should be approached with longevity & health in mind.
Here are 5 types of movements that you can focus on:
- Strength / Resistance (Builds bone density, burns more fat, builds metabolism)
- Aerobic low intensity (Stamina, mitochondrial density, muscular endurance, stress resiliency)
- High intensity (Fat burning, strength, power, short intervals)
- Mobility and Balance (Promotes recovery, injury prevention, greater stability during workouts, and longevity, ability to build symmetry, posture, and to recover quickly after engaging in other areas)
- Recovery* (the time when your muscles actually grow is while you rest).
SUMMARY: One of the best types of movement you can do is to move regularly in small doses all throughout your day.
Cheers!
– Kirsten
Resources:
-
- https://nutritionfacts.org/video/brown-fat-losing-weight-through-thermogenesis/
- https://www.noted.co.nz/health/health-health/how-not-to-die-everyday-activities-sitting-disease-dr-michael-greger
- https://builtwithscience.com/non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis/
- https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6852/6-things-to-know-about-non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254618301005
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12468415
If you’re interested in a training plan, I’d love to help! I’m opening up more space for a few 1-1 health coaching time. In these times, we look at your personal goals and review nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, stress, habits, mindset, and balance. We’ll work through obstacles to create a sustainable plan that works with your lifestyle and health needs. Sign up for a free consultation here!
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Kirsten Larsen is a wholeness coach, helping people experience freedom and breakthrough in body, soul, and spirit.
