Heather Denniston shares her top tips for movement snacks, mapping and more!
It’s 2:00 PM. You have been at your desk since 7:30 AM. You feel foggy and disengaged, and if your response to Jim in accounts is any indication, perhaps a little irritable.
What is wrong?
Sure, you have been focusing too long, and the numbers on the spreadsheet in front of you are running together like a Dali painting, but could there be more going on?
Could the fact that you have hardly moved today result in more than just a tired fanny?
No reader will be surprised to hear that prolonged sitting is bad for you. But you might raise eyebrows to learn that those extended periods of sitting lead to much more than a numb backside.
You might also be surprised to learn how easy it is to negate the shocking effects that sitting has on your health, but we will get to that.
In addition to serious musculoskeletal weakness, core failure, and low back degeneration, sitting can result in some additional curious findings.
Mental Decline
- Decreased focus and concentration
- Impaired information processing
- Reduced problem-solving ability
- Diminished attention span
- Memory issues
- Reduced creativity
Cardiovascular Impact
- Increased risk of high blood pressure
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Increased cardiometabolic risk factors
And a bucket of other surprises!
- Increased risk of diabetes
- Higher cholesterol
- Increased waist circumference
- Higher risk of certain cancers like colorectal, ovarian, and prostate
- Higher risk of obesity
- 19% increased risk of death!
I read a book many years ago titled, “Sitting Kills” by Joan Vernikos. Joan was a NASA researcher who documented health issues that astronauts commonly acquire after spending time in space – symptoms like chronic headaches, cardiovascular failure, diabetes, and cancer.
During extensive research, she noticed another group of people who suffered similar afflictions – people who sat for a good portion of their day.
She discovered that people who sit for a living, like astronauts who spend too much time in space, negate the essential tension between the body and another key force – gravity.
There is a dance we do with gravity when we walk, run, get up from a chair, bend down, jump, or step. That interplay is essential for optimized health and well-being, and as we have become more sedentary, that robust dialogue has been silenced, resulting in significant and chronic impacts on health.
So, we know that sitting is bad and that the fallout from sitting is far worse than you probably imagined, but as folks who spend a good deal of time staring at a screen, what are we to do?
We move.
Remember the crank flashlight? It had no battery, just a crank on the side that you had to “move” to get light. That example represents our bodies’ desperate cry for movement.
Any movement!
I will not bore you with the “make sure to get your steps in” line of advice. I want you to think about “movement” concepts in a new way.
Eight New Ways to Get Movement into Your Day
Plyometrics
Just a fancy word meaning leave the ground and return to the ground. Jumping jacks, squat jumps, and step-ups are all ways to satisfy your body’s demand for “gravity play.” Not only will you increase circulation but over time, improve bone density, muscle strength, and even focus, and attention.
Give Your Discs A Drink
Think of the discs in between your vertebra like little cushions of jelly. They support flexibility, spinal strength, and posture and when hydrated, provide the foundation for a healthy spine. But they are constantly “thirsty,” and they only hydrate through movement. When we stretch, reach, and bend, our spinal discs receive the fluid they require to provide support, and when we don’t move, they dry up and become rigid and flaky like filo pastry. This can lead to back pain, postural failure, and overall advanced degeneration of the spine. Any movement, even micromovement, like sitting on a stability ball for a few minutes, is a cool drink of water for your parched discs.
Movement Map
Place your essentials beyond arms’ reach. That way, when you reach for your coffee cup, stapler, or cell phone, you are, by necessity, adding micro-movements to your day.
Movement Snacks
Don’t get caught using “I don’t have time” as an excuse to ignore your body’s desperate need for movement during the day. Instead, remember that any movement is great! Consider movement snacks. One minute here and one minute there adds up, and your body will thank you by feeling less stiff and more energized at the end of the day.
Shake and Jiggle
Many mammals use shaking to dissipate stress. Ever encountered a nervous Pomeranian? Shaking loosens tight muscles, improves lymph drainage, and increases blood flow to the body and brain. Throw on Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” and just jiggle and jostle your way to a healthier mind and body.
Hello, Glutes!
Our gluteal muscles are more than just lovely filling for the right pair of jeans. They are an essential part of our posture and are a key to staying mobile and independent in our older years. And yet we flatten and ignore them for most of the day. A simple strategy – once an hour, squeeze your bottom muscles. If you have trouble finding them, and many do, pretend you must do bathroom business number two and can’t find a restroom. You found them, didn’t you? Twenty firm squeezes every hour to increase circulation and fire up sleepy muscles.
Every Joint, Every Way
Imagine an empty art frame directly in front of you. Most of your activities take place within the span of this imaginary frame. Eating, driving, computing, changing the channel. Your joints need their full range of motion daily, or you start losing flexibility. So, throughout the day, pick a body part and move it through its entire range of motion. You can remember this movement need by singing this phrase – “Every joint, every way, every day!”
Heel Slams
There is something deeply satisfying about standing, raising up on your toes, and slamming your heels on the ground. Guess what? It has huge benefits as well as being fun. Heel slams jostle your lymph system to improve draining and clearing of all the toxins that collect during the day. Heel slamming is also fantastic for focus, brain function, and shaking off the 2:00 PM slump.
Note
For those of you smiling knowingly and saying, “I already have this covered, Dr. Heather, I have a stand station!” That is excellent, AND the data still reveals that even a stand station is considered stationary if the standee is not regularly incorporating additional movements into their day.
Tips for Success
- Pick only one strategy to implement at a time.
- Link it to something you are already doing – 10 jumping jacks when you wait for your tea to steep.
- Grab a partner – accountability works!
- Schedule it in – When we see self-care in our calendar, the activities suddenly gains importance
- Once a particular movement is executed easily, layer in another option from the list above.
As the astronauts discovered, eliminating the essential gravitational play our bodies and minds require is unsustainable. And because sitting shuts off gravity to our spines and nervous system, long periods of sitting can corrupt our health and well-being.
The good news is that small movements, mini movement breaks, movement snacks, moving things just out of reach, jostling, slamming, jumping and saying hello to your bum are all activities that encourage you to “move” throughout your day, reducing potential health risks and amplifying focus, productivity, and energy.
Let’s move.
Resources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10526922
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11112082
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5618737
https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-019-0349-1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33657061
https://online.nursing.georgetown.edu/blog/sitting-or-standing-youre-at-risk
Vernikos, J. (2011). Sitting Kills, Moving Heals: How Everyday Movement Will Prevent Pain, Illness, and Early Death — and Exercise Alone Won’t. Quill Driver Books.
Timely, simple and useful (thank you)!
It is my pleasure!!!