Movement is SO important for our general wellbeing! Did you know that moving our bodies frequently throughout the day has a positive effect on mood, stress, energy levels, muscle aches, spinal/joint pains, productivity levels and sleep patterns?
Now one common misconception when people say you need to exercise or move your body is that you need to do it in a gym or go for a run or long walk that may occupy 1 or more hours of your day. But this simply is not true, any movement is good movement!
Now if you’ve got time for a morning, midday or evening walk, gym session or other then great! Get out there and DO IT!
If you don’t have that kind of time every day then here are some simple tips on how to increase your work day movement:
- Stand up from your desk frequently; every 30-60 minutes and do some small exercises for example: sit to stand from your office chair 10 times then straight back into Sitting exercises: shoulder shrugs and backward rolls, shoulder blade squeezes, trunk twists, heel raises, again do about 10 repetitions. You can even do them if you’re on a phone call which takes me onto my next tip…
- Move while on-call; If you take lots of calls through the day and have access to a headset (or ask management for one!) then use this time to stand up and move! Especially if it is a call where you do not need to be actively on the computer the whole time.
- Walk to the water cooler, bathroom, end of the corridor, staff room, or any other location in the work place, and back to your Again, this will only occupy about 30-60seconds of your time but will provide you with a nice break from your computer screen or current task, allow you to get the oxygen pumping through your body and give that brain a mini break.
- Get active on your lunch breaks; this is YOUR time so spend it doing something for YOU! It is valuable time to refresh, reset, take your mind away from your work tasks, and recharge the batteries before the next half of the work day begins. Often you get 30 minutes maybe an hour so use this time to get away from your work space, go eat something nutritious and get some FRESH AIR and sunshine! Even if this is only 5-10 minutes of your lunch time, make it a priority!
Make YOUR health and wellbeing a priority! You could go for a short walk down the street and back, take some deep breaths and do some stretches outside, or for those who really want to make the most of it pack some walking shoes into your work bag and go out for a brisk walk to really get the bloodflowing.
If you need some guidance with getting back into exercise, book an appointment with one of our Physiotherapists or with our Exercise Physiologist.
#movement4life
