There’s a silent epidemic creeping up on us and it is worse than the Covid. It hides in plain sight and lurks behind long workdays, endless scrolling, binge-worthy shows, and even the most productive Zoom calls. Did you know that the average worker now spends around 8-10 hours sitting in front of a desk daily. All this is attributed to the sedentary cycle.
The sedentary cycle is a sneaky loop that involves sitting, working, snacking, and doing it all over again. Plot twist: you don’t need a gym membership, five apps, or a motivational quote tattooed on your wrist to break it. You just need creativity and discipline.
This isn’t your typical “get fit fast” guide. This is an invitation to rethink what fitness should look like for you. Let’s get moving.
1. Boring Movements Become Micro Workouts
You don’t need to wait for a time when you can set aside a full hour to do an uninterrupted 60-minute workout. You just need enough discipline to squeeze in movement in your everyday routine.
For instance, consider squatting when you are brushing your teeth or a wall sit when you are waiting for dinner. Do you occasionally find yourself stuck in meetings? Pace back and forth while you’re on call.
The trick is to sneak fitness into your routine like you’d sneak spinach into a brownie. You won’t even notice, until you start seeing the results.
2. The Gamification of Fitness
Fitness doesn’t need to be boring or feel like a chore. If you have ever walked 12,000 steps just to hatch an egg in Pokémon GO, you already know how much of an effect gamification has on fitness. Let’s dial it up a notch.
Create a “move jar” filled to the top with paper slips (include small challenges such as 20-second plank, 15 high knees, 10 desk push ups). Every hour, draw one of the slips and do the challenge.
If that’s not fun enough, consider competing with friends or coworkers using fitness apps like StepBet or Stridekick.
3. The Sneaker Principle
In theory, this could be applied to any object, but let’s use sneakers in this instance. The sneaker principle is simple. Keep a pair of sneakers visible at all times near your bedroom door, your desk, or at the front door.
Every time you need to put on a pair of sneakers, you have to move. This could mean walking around the block, stretching for five minutes, or dancing.
4. Make Movement Feel Positive
Remember when movement used to feel like a gift instead of punishment. You climbed trees, hung upside down, skipped, hopped, and rolled down hills for no reason. Bring that energy back to your life.
- Crawl around your living room (great for your core).
- Jump rope in the driveway.
- Play tag with your kids or friends.
- Play hide and seek with your dog.
- Try a cartwheel, fail, laugh, try again.
Fitness shouldn’t be serious. Simply jumping around with joy could also be sufficient cardio. As long as you’re moving more than before.
5. Rest Should be a Part of Fitness
Breaking the sedentary cycle doesn’t mean running around burning calories all the time. Your main focus shouldn’t even be losing weight. It simply means tuning into your body and realizing when you need to move it. Similarly, you must give it rest when it asks.
Stretch before you sleep or pick up meditation and yoga. If that feels too complicated simply lie on the floor and breathe in and out. Rest helps you recover those aching muscles so you can get back at it tomorrow.
Pro Tip: Bring in the Experts
If you’re really committed to this, you can definitely take it up a notch and go for expert personal training Seattle. That will allow you to let another person take the lead and plan your routine, which may save you a lot more time. Plus, they can help you squeeze in workouts whenever you get free time in the day, according to your convenience.
Speak the Language of Movement
Like a language, you need to slowly incorporate movement into your life and practice it all day to get fluent. Learn it with love instead of punishment and discipline. Build it bit by bit with curiosity, joy, and mischief.
Move like no one is watching. Be proud of yourself. Because you aren’t just breaking the sedentary cycle but elongating your life as well as improving your quality of life in the long run.
