Your Key to Success: Daily Movement
Tell me if you’ve heard these recommendations and see if you can point out the common theme:
- Take 10,000 steps a day
- Walk for 20-30 minutes each day
- Lift heavy weights
- Lift light weights with high reps
- Stand at your desk while you work
- Take a stretch break every hour
- Ride your bike instead of taking the car
- Walk around the house when you’re talking on the phone
These are just some simple ways we are encouraged to incorporate movement into our daily routine.
I don’t like to say that people should exercise everyday because we’ve picked up some negative connotations to that term in the past few decades. I don’t like seeing you get frustrated over trying to somehow fit a workout into your already busy schedule.
Instead, I like to encourage all my clients and customers to find the type of movement that makes them happy and that they enjoy. Then do some of that every single day.
Benefits of daily movement
Moving our bodies everyday does more than just strengthen the physical body. It’s also incredibly useful for mental health and stress management.
In fact, exercise can be as effective as medication and psychotherapies and for people with attention-deficit disorder (ADHD), another study showed that a single 20-minute bout of moderate-intensity cycling briefly improved their symptoms. It enhanced the participants’ motivation for tasks requiring focused thought, increased their energy, and reduced their feelings of confusion, fatigue, and depression. However, in this study, exercise had no effect on attention or hyperactivity per se. (source: health.harvard.edu)
Whether you are a cycling enthusiast or an avid participant in tai chi or yoga, you’ve experienced the wellness payoff of these types of daily movement so why are these activities sometimes the first to get thrown out the window when we get too busy or too overwhelmed with other aspects of life?
I’m advocating for the opposite!
During times of extreme stress and a heavy workload, it’s even more important to maintain focus on some form of daily movement to release tension from the body and give the brain a much-needed rush of endorphins (happy hormones).
Join me this week in The Hassle-Free Family for daily tips and tricks for incorporating various forms of daily movement into your routine to reap all the physical and mental health benefits without committing to an hour in the gym.
I can’t wait to see you transform into your best self with these simple tips.
