I think it’s fair to say that many of us are sitting more than normal, not just with our jobs, but now with the global pandemic and multiple lockdowns we have nowhere to go, so what can we do, sit down read, or maybe watch some T.V.
You might ask why does that matter?
Glad you asked!
Basically, our body needs stress. what I mean by this is stressing our joints, and tissues so that they stay healthy and responsive.
Now as always there is a spectrum.
You can over work and stress the joints and tissue. Think about repetitive strain where you make the same movement again and agin, and eventually end up injured. Or in the case of athletes who are putting their bodies through extreme stress, demand and load.
Slightly embarrassed to say this, but I watched a documentary on Netflix about cheerleaders called ‘Cheer’.
Why I’m sharing this is because this is a good example of extreme load and stress. They put their bodies through such demanding and rigorous routines, they ended up with cracked ribs, broken elbows, and severe sprains some of which they continued to work through all for the love of their sport. If you’ve watched it too, you’ll know what I mean it’s crazy what they do!
On the other end of the spectrum though we can have a lack of movement. When we don’t move enough we loose muscle strength and tone, and we even atrophy of the muscles, making us weaker. When there is weakness we are more prone to injury. Many people suffer from back, hip, shoulder pain nowadays, and a lot can be attributed to sitting at desks for long hours, and not enough movement.
This is why we need to move, and have a good mix of movement types, which includes strength work (especially as we age) and lengthening and loading the tissues throughout a range of different movements.
What this means is we want to try to move when we can, and ideally lots of little mini movement sessions throughout our day.
Whether that’s a long hike outside, dancing to your favourite tunes for 30 minutes, a HIIT session, yoga, or taking 10 minutes to move at your desk a few times throughout the day! Increasing our movement does wonders for our physical body and there are benefits to our mental health too.
How much movement we need?
Well, firstly our bodies are designed to move, before computers and desk jobs we worked in agriculture, lifting, pushing, pulling, pressing, jumping, climbing and running and more. We didn’t need to create artificial exercise to move. We moved all day long. Our brain is there to allow us to move and engage with the world. It’s how we connect with others, and interact with our environment.
So what’s the magic number I hear you ask?
There are studies that suggest 60 minutes, others 20-40 minutes. While I think averages and statistics can be helpful, I would suggest finding movement activities that you enjoy and doing that rather than forcing yourself to exercise for a set period of time. In most cases we loose motivation to keep going pretty quickly if we don’t enjoy the activity.
It’s also important to move your body in lots of different ranges of movement. Think about a simple task of reaching for a high shelf in your kitchen. If you never reach your arm over head, eventually as you age, it will become a struggle to make this move with ease.
Equally, if you have an injury, severe stress, depression, or health concerns you will need to work with your medical care providers to figure out what would be optimal for you and what movements you can do, and what to avoid.
So injuries, and health concerns aside.
How much movement do we need? From the studies 60-20 minutes is enough. I would say that it’s not about a magic number, but about finding ways to integrate movement into our everyday so that it becomes a part of daily life. Think about movement as a way to have fun and interact with the world.
Especially considering movement has been shown to help us:
Feel well, physically and emotionally
Function productively
Think, learn and remember
Interact with the world
Communicate and express ourselves
Connect and build relationships with others.
Just like getting a balanced diet for our health, we should consider a balanced movement diet too.
When we move we tend to feel better in our body and mind, and when we don’t pain and inflammation arises which stops us enjoying life to the fullest.