Guest post written by Dr. Bob Murray
In Food & Fitness After 50 we describe the importance of regular physical activity for health and longevity. We know that for many people, words such as “exercise”, “training”, and “workouts” are turn-offs, terms they can’t relate to and don’t want to consider as part of their lifestyle. That’s no problem! Most important for all of us is to adhere to a simple concept: sit less and move more. Improving our health is as simple as that one painless step.
By reducing the time we sit, our increased movement throughout the day results in more calories burned and challenges our hearts, muscles, and bones to gradually improve their capacities. And a recent systematic review found that short breaks of standing led to a reduction in blood glucose levels after meals compared to sitting. Taking a short, light intensity walk was even better than standing or sitting.
For those who have spent the past decades doing just the opposite—sitting more and moving less—changing that habit is one of the easiest and most effective steps we can take toward better health.
Here are our top 5 tips to easily experience the long-term benefits of moving more:
- Make sitting-less a priority. During each day, use your smart watch or phone to set a notification every hour (or less if you’d like) as a reminder to get up and move around. If you’re stuck at your computer or a Zoom meeting, moving around may be nothing more than standing for a few minutes. If you have the opportunity, use those regular breaks from sitting to take a walk, stretch, or do a few exercises. If you have stairs in your home, walk up and down the stairs for a quick activity, Instead of fast forwarding through television commercials, use that as a prompt to get up and move, just don’t use those opportunities to visit the kitchen for a snack. Think of these small movements as activity snacks!
- Make moving-more easy to accomplish. Family responsibilities, work, or volunteer activities require most of our time and energy, so it’s no surprise that many people want and need some down time to decompress. If your day is jam packed and there simply is no time (or energy) to devote to formal exercise, there are still easy ways to move more. For example, try walking or cycling to a store or take a longer route to walk your dog around the neighborhood. Even an extra five minutes of walking several times a day can make a big difference over time. Also keep in mind that we don’t have to do all our physical activity at one time; breaking things into ten-minute periods three times each day is an easy way to achieve a total of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity. Spreading out our activity over the day may actually be as good as or better than exercising for an hour and being sedentary for the other 23 hours.
- Make moving-more enjoyable. Common sense tells us that we’re more likely to continue to do the activities we most enjoy. For that reason alone, moving-more should consist of whatever physical activities you most enjoy. This simple lesson is especially important for those who have not exercised for decades but have decided it’s time to increase daily physical activity. Remember that housework, gardening, window washing, and mowing the lawn all count as moving-more. We may not always enjoy those activities, but they all contribute to the goal of moving more.
- Make moving-more fit your lifestyle. It can be frustrating to get excited about changing our fitness habits only to soon realize that we can’t sustain the commitment of time or energy. If your weekday schedule is crammed with family and work responsibilities, trying to find time to exercise can add stress. Do your best to move more each day and use the weekends to get in the exercise you couldn’t fit into your chaotic week. Plant reminders around your house to stay motivated. Keep your walking shoes near the front door or loop a resistance band around a doorknob to give you a visual reminder to be active.
- Make moving-more a regular habit. If you are one of the millions of Americans who are sedentary and out of shape, your lifestyle will have to change if you hope to become fitter. Some people are successful at making large and abrupt changes in their lifestyles, but most of us find success in initially making small changes and gradually building on those over time. If you haven’t exercised in decades, it makes more sense to develop new move-more habits by taking a daily 5-minute walk in one direction and then returning home than it does to sign up for a 12-week body-pump class. Start small, develop a new habit that’s easy to maintain, and then gradually add more time and intensity. Consider hiring a personal trainer to help you meet your fitness goals and look for community opportunities to get fit. The local YMCA is a good place to start, and they offer classes targeting older adults.
Food and Fitness After 50 contains common-sense, science-based tips and resources that can help us eat well, move well, and be well. Remember, the journey to better physical and mental health can begin with something a simple as a walk around the neighborhood.
Dr. Chris Rosenbloom is a registered dietitian nutritionist and professor emerita at Georgia State University. She is co-author of Food & Fitness After 50. Click here to follow her blog on healthy aging.
