Our bodies are designed to move; no wonder moving more and sitting less comes with all sorts of health benefits.
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We all know that too much sitting can be risky for our health, and studies say that we should exercise for at least 150 minutes a week to keep our bodies healthy and happy.
The evidence to support the argument is overwhelming, and you can easily talk to a health professional or do your own research, but the answer will be the same – there are countless benefits of moving more and sitting less.
It has been observed that even after regular awareness on the subject, Americans are still not getting enough exercise. This has resulted in a noticeable increase in obesity and other illnesses. Thus, we have decided to highlight the benefits of moving more and sitting less in today’s article.
Why Move More?
Most of our lifestyles and habits revolve around sitting and performing tasks. Even running chores outside our house require the bare minimum movement of our body since we have vehicles to go everywhere.
Now, look at it from the viewpoint of basic science – we are energy, and it needs to be moving to flow. Our bodies are not designed to sit for long hours, and sadly, most of us spend 50-70% of our days sitting.
When the flow is disrupted, it creates blocks and thus, leads to many diseases. There is countless research that shows conditions such as depression, anxiety, cardiovascular issues, etc., stem from sitting for long hours.
This is why moving more and sitting in one place for an extended period can be pretty harmful to your physical and mental health.
Create an Environment To Support and Celebrate Movement
It might seem ridiculous at first, but it has proven to help many people leave their chairs and couches. For instance, this initiative by UBC helped its community members by introducing four-pointers:
- Move more – Try to move regularly and all through the day. Make movement a part of everything you do, whether watching TV, reading a book, and even eating an apple!
- Move well – move but in a way that’s comfortable for you. For example, going for a walk in nature, practicing yoga, running, etc. It shouldn’t have to be a rigorous workout but anything that makes you feel good.
- Move anywhere – Whether you are a working professional or a stay-home person, it is essential to keep yourself moving. It doesn’t matter where you are, all that you need is some space, a park, stairs- anything where you can walk.
- Keep moving – UBC suggests people find fun and creative ways to keep their bodies moving and offers to help them figure out the same. Keep exploring, and you will find something that will get you hooked to physical activity.
Not Moving Gives Rise to Countless Diseases and Illnesses
Sitting in one place can be pretty straightforward. Yes, until you learn the harmful effects of spending most of your day in your bed or chair, even if you are a hardworking individual, you will continue sitting there for the rest of your life.
Hence, you must read about the possible health conditions and diseases that can birth in your body in case you still don’t decide to move your body,
Cardiovascular problems
As per the Center for Disease Control (CDC), one person dies from heart disease every 37 seconds in America. Heart attack, High Blood Pressure, stroke, coronary artery disease, etc., are some of the results of having no body movement.
Depression and anxiety
Not moving your body for days leads to depression, sadness, and stress in people. You can check it for yourself. The minute you start overthinking or have a negative thought, get up and move your body, and you will notice it disappearing and replaced by a happy feeling.
So, yes, research has proven that inadequate mental health is usually the result of a lifeless body and the unwillingness of the person to move from one place to another throughout the day.
Joint problems
As we grow old, we naturally expect weak joints and bones. However, most of us are unaware that our bones love to be flexible and move all the time.
The synovial fluid between our joints works as a lubricant for them, and increased physical activity encourages its production and the blood flow in the body. Thus, our joints work better and remain healthy for an extended period.
Inflammation
Most Americans claim to experience stress daily, which slowly affects their heart, increases blood pressure, and breathing problems. Daily stress has successfully proven to lead to inflammation, the underlying cause of many severe health conditions.
When you move your body regularly, it develops an anti-inflammatory process that reduces oxidative stress, which also helps them release psychological anxiety.
Benefits of Moving Your Body
We live in stressful times, and we all want to achieve everything we dream of before bidding goodbye to this world. However, to achieve it all is also to enjoy the fruits of your success, and the first and foremost step towards it all is to keep your body moving.
It might seem overwhelming at first – moving with intentions throughout the day, but you can start with taking shorter movement breaks. Impromptu dance parties, desk exercises, stress-release walking, etc., are a few ways to handle these breaks.
There are many benefits of moving your body, and there are only advantages of moving your beautiful body, and you should know all about them.
Your cognitive functions increase
When you move more, you learn better and are more accessible than usual. If you want to increase your learning, improve concentration/memory, and improve the overall brain’s cognitive functions, keep your body moving.
This will also lead to more creativity as well as productivity. Exercising regularly has also proven to encourage the growth and survival of blood vessels in the brain, which boosts good mood and reduces anxiety and depression, and thus, insomnia.
Boosts immune system
Moderate exercise has also shown boosts in the body’s immune system no matter what body type you have. It increases the body’s response to pathogens – organisms that have the potential to cause infections/diseases in the host.
This automatically boosts the immune system of the person. The reduction in visceral fat mass leads to an anti-inflammatory process and thus, increases the body’s immunity. Imagine what regular exercise can do to your body.
Improved metabolism
It is pretty natural that when you exercise or move your body regularly, you burn calories at quite a speed. This automatically leads to improvement in metabolism.
The fat-free mass, made of muscles and organ tissue, affects the metabolism more, and thus, actively fastens its rate by building more muscle mass.
This increases the metabolism in the body, burns unwanted calories and fat, giving you a healthier body. Regular exercise also strengthens your muscles and bones, even at an older age.
Better sleep
Exercising releases happy hormones (endorphins) in the body. Thus, it is one of the pleasurable activities for the body even though moving seems like a pain sometimes. When you move your body, it automatically feels good and naturally gets tired and seeks rest.
Thus, you sleep better and for more extended periods. This also affects your entire mental, physical, and emotional health and improves your cognitive functions.
Weight loss/maintenance
To reduce/maintain the weight of your body, the intake of calories must be equal to the energy you burn daily. To lose weight, you must burn off as much as you eat and drink regularly.
When you move your body throughout the day, you will automatically burn calories and lose weight. This is no rocket science and very easy to understand.
Reduces the risk of heart diseases
As mentioned in this article already, lack of body movement can lead to severe health conditions, one of them being cardiovascular or heart problems, such as stroke, heart attack, coronary artery diseases, or heart failure. When you work out regularly, it lowers blood pressure and brings down your triglyceride levels.
Increases chances of living a long and healthy life
Since your body is healthy and happy due to regular movement, it vibrates at a higher frequency and keeps most diseases and illnesses at bay. No wonder that your chances to live a healthy and long life increase.
The Lesser-Known Benefits of Moving Your Body
Now that you know about the positive mental, physical, and emotional effects of body movement on your body, here are some of the lesser-known benefits of the same. We felt the need to include this section because no one talks about some of the least known yet powerful benefits of moving one’s body every day.
Helps in quitting smoking
We bet you didn’t know this one. When done regularly for a month, yoga to Pilates shows drastic improvements in the smoking activity of a chain smoker. When you exercise regularly, it reduces cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Since the body remains calm and relaxed most of the time, one doesn’t need to resort to outside sources (nicotine, in this case) to feel better.
Reduces risk of injuries
The cognitive functions of someone who regularly exercises are sharp and activated to their highest ability. Thus, one easily avoids falls and injuries.
The muscle strength and bone density are pretty solid and tall, respectively, in such people, and therefore, they don’t fall or get wounded physically, not that often.
Reduced risk of cancer
Keeping one’s body moving via exercising, walking, holding yoga postures, dancing, or any other way significantly improves the body’s immune power and reduces the risk of birthing cancer in the body, including breast cancer, colon cancer, etc. uterine, and blood cancer.
How To Make Moving a Part of Your Routine
You can always start by taking short breaks, including sitting exercises, office walks, dancing routines, etc. From there, you can pick up the pace – as simple as moving your body on a song per day is better than not moving your body at all. You will slowly increase your stamina and keep going further.
Here are some tips to keep moving your body daily.
Find a partner
When you start to move your body in the early phases, you can remain active with the help of a partner – ask your friend or a family member to be a part of your routine and head out for a walk, join a dance or yoga class together, or hit the gym together.
Track your progress
It is essential to keep a tracklog of your activity, especially when you are only starting with regular exercise. Keeping track of your daily movement not only helps you set goals but also keeps you motivated to achieve them.
Make it creative or fun
We are a fan of focusing on one thing at a time; in this case, it’s exercising. However, at the beginning of your workout, it will be a good idea to listen to music, watch TV or find any other way to keep the exercise fun and creative. Once you learn to work out daily, you can remove all the distractions and put all your energy into exercising.
Make small but significant changes every day
On day one, you can go for a walk in nature, and on day two, you can use the officer stairs instead of the lift and so on. When you keep doing different body movements every day, the routine will not remain boring, and you will have something to look forward to daily.
Movement Is Essential, but So Is Rest.
We want to wrap up this article with an important message – you should keep your body moving every day but knowing when to take rest is also essential.
Yes, allow yourself complete freedom to take as much rest as you need but once you are done, get back to the gym, yoga class, running in the park, Pilates, etc. and make the most of your time.
Trust us when we say that your 80-year old self will only thank you and be grateful for your current decision.
We hope this article has inspired you to make moving a part of your everyday life. If you liked the content and some of our ideas, please share them with others like yourself who are in need of inspiration.
And if you have a comment, a suggestion or simply a word of motivation to share with our readers, please put in your words into the comments section and we will make sure to get back to you with a prompt reply.
