Thoughts On Beliefs Around Movement
There is a show on Netflix at the moment, ‘Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones’ which explores the lifestyle habits of the 5 global destinations with the highest concentration of centenarians. One habit that is identified as contributing to life longevity is the approach to movement where inhabitants lives are set up to move every 20 minutes or so.
It is often suggested that having a desk job means that movement is out the window and that movement only happens when you are away from your desk. I have shared this before but I think that this is partly due to how we behave when at school: when you are in class you are still (and certainly when I was at school you were told off for fidgeting in class) and movement happens on the playing field.
There is a belief that if movement isn’t happening in workout gear and in a workout environment it doesn't count. This simply isn’t true. It all counts. Yes there are different intensities and focus but it all contributes to overall wellbeing. Finding a balance of different types of movement and being conscious about how you do it, is really where it’s it.
This is why I created Pilates At Your Desk and the membership Move At Your Desk so that we can move more while we work and we can do it in a way that is balanced and safe.
Here are some tips on how to get more out of MAYD:
Open the newsletter each week and try the suggested bitesize classes, and the longer ones when not at your desk
Schedule an extra 2 min movement break into your working diary now and build on this adding an extra one each week working towards moving for a couple of mins every 20
Copy and paste the URLs of your favourite MAYD videos into one document so it’s easy for you to access them (make sure you have a mixture of different videos as balance is key)
Embrace your inner fidget and move in and out of sitting positions throughout the day
At the end of the day recognise how much you’ve moved that day noting that it all counts
The more movement you do during the working day the fewer aches and pains you will experience, you’ll have more energy and you will feel incentivised to move more when not at your desk. You may also start to see improvement in other forms of movement you do when not at your desk.
Give it a try! I bet you’ll be happier for it too.
