This the 7th installment of the healthy habits for writers series.
How often have you worked an entire day only to realize that you are stiff and fully spent? It’s as though you went to a gym and worked out for hours— the stiffness only though. You don’t have any of the burn, or the afterglow feeling of having put in a good workout.
The reason is because you didn’t. That afterglow feeling is from the release of endorphins. And you don’t get it from sitting still. Your muscles are stiff from inaction and being sedentary for long hours. Before you say it, no, getting up and out for lunch, putting in and pulling out your chair, and lifting heavy foods with a mere fork don’t count as workout activities.
If you sit for hours at a time in front of a computer screen, if you’re not as young as you used to be, if you don’t have thirty young students you run behind, or one or two active children of your own, you may need to do more than groom, and eat, and walk to the door.
Cancel out Sedentary Living
These days, many people are concerned about living healthy lives. They take advantage of the information science makes available to have a better lifestyle. And this only makes sense when you consider people are living longer; no sense living it in a rickety body when you can do better. You can find the information that you need many places. I’ve compiled here seven exercises that help me break up my otherwise sedentary workday.
Dangers of Sedentary Living
There are serious health risks to not getting enough exercise. Some of the risks are obvious, others not so much. And because it’s so easy to get caught up in writing and researching, it’s important to make the conscious effort to get in enough exercise. It can spare you the time lost and expense that can come with serious health issues.
Many of the articles I’ve read on this subject, have stated that you shouldn’t jump into exercise without consulting with your doctor. I think this is especially true if you are ailing already. If you start and feel really poorly, STOP! and be sure to consult your health care practitioner.
Some diseases related to sedentary living include:
- heart disease
- diabetes
- obesity
- depression
- anxiety
7 Exercises to Counter the Sedentary Lifestyle
As I get older, aches seem to last longer. When I don’t exercise for a while, everything seems to want to stop. My digestion even slows down. Exercise is really important to me because I have a defective hip. One of the best exercises for me is swimming. My doctor told so. However, it’s rare that I can get to a pool. The following are exercises I’ve chosen because they help me, and make a difference in how I feel. There are others that I have on my list, but these are the seven I use most often.
- Stretches: extend muscles to their maximum then just a little further, hold for a 5 count and release.
- arms: rotations with locked elbows; swinging with bent elbows, like walking in place
- legs: sitting on the floor, reach for toes
- torso: twist and bend at the waist; 3 count
- neck: turn head left to right, as well as tilting; 3 count
- Marching: in place, lifting my knees high and swing my bent arms in exaggerated fashion
- Finger flex: bounce extensions pressing fingers into each other
- Walk: brisk and slow, intermittently
- Dance: music sets the tone so choose wisely upbeat, but no salsa to start
- Deep breathing: fill your lungs, count four, exhale slowly
- Mini massage: massage the muscles in your hands and forearms
Benefits: These exercises can improve muscle tone, circulation, digestion and breathing. They burn calories, too. Using them and building on the frequency builds physical stamina. Another benefit I almost forgot about, being physically fit improves emotional and mental stamina, and clarity. Improving muscle tone and burning calories has a very nice benefit of better fitting clothes. (I really loathe shopping for LARGER sizes!)
Implementing: I choose exercises from this list and go for fifteen minutes, twice each day that I do them. And to that, I’ve started slow, with two to three days a week.
What do you think? What are your routines for getting the exercise you need? Let me know how you counter your sedentary lifestyle.
