Sitting is the new smoking. A lot of lower back issues, cervical pain, postural issues arise out of sitting in one place for a long time. When we sit for a long time, we cut out circulation to the lower part of the body. And good health is about circulation too because when we have good circulation, blood carries oxygen and nutrients from the food that we eat to all our billion cells giving them energy and power. So if there is reduction, our health gets impacted. We should try not to sit at one place for more than an hour and always be moving. Do you know we can find creative ways to move throughout the day ? We can easily add movements to almost every daily activity by NEAT techniques. NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. It is the energy expended outside of structured exercises. For more clarity on NEAT let’s take a peek into the various daily examples :
- Park the car at the far end of the parking lot. This will add up to your steps counts.
- If travelling by bus, get off a stop early.
- Avoid elevators, take the stairs.
- Walk during your lunch break.
- Stand up and stretch every time one hit “send” on an email.
- Walk while talk, start walking while you are on long conversations over the calls.
- Take advantage of sitting by raising your heels. Excellent option for working out lower leg muscles. Placing a large book on the knees provides more resistance.
- Take a walk while going to nearby shops.Carrying groceries add a few biceps curls too every time your lift a bag.
- Instead of lazing around with a brush in your mouth, stand near the wash basin with one leg lifted. This will help you strengthen your core and at the same time improve your concentration and balance.
- Instead of asking the office boy to fill up your water bottle, take a stroll and refill it yourself.
- Instead of plopping down in front of the TV after dinner, make it a habit to go for a short evening stroll.
- Use commercial breaks during TV shows as chance to workout.
- Don’t wait until the weekend to clean your home, spend some time every day tidying up, dusting, doing laundry, vacuuming and washing windows etc
- Walk faster, walking faster burns more calories, strengthens leg muscles, is great for your heart and lungs, and for your attitude and sense of vitality.
You can create more ways according to you 🙂
