Improve your health by increasing incidental activity

If you live in the western world chances are that your environment is conspiring against you in your quest to move!

We spend the majority of our day sitting on our bums and watching screens whether at work or at home. We also know that this is not good for us and there is an increasing number of studies linking long periods of sitting with numerous health concerns from diabetes and cancers through to back and neck complaints.

Incorporating structured exercise in your week is part of the solution but there are other things that you can do to increase your ‘incidental activity’ level;

• Every time you get a phone call  talk and walk! Ensure you have a cordless or ‘hands free’ phone so that you can get off your chair and walk around the room while you chat.
• Stand up while you eat lunch or have coffee. You can still be sociable – your workmates/friends will just need to stand as well!
• Watching your favourite TV show in your ugg boots on a weekday night? Get off the sofa and do 20 squats every ad break.
• Use the stairs not lift
• Drink plenty of water – this is great for health on its own but will also ensure you  get up and walk to the bathroom more frequently during your day!
• Park further away from your destination – it’s not an inconvenience, it’s an opportunity to increase your incidental activity
• Still not convinced and want some data? Purchase a basic pedometer and wear for a week – the recommendation for general health is that we should be accumulating 10,000 steps/day. This will help build your awareness of how much you do or don’t move to provide additional motivation

-Kristin Lewis