Don’t be a Rusty Chain: The Easiest Way Get Moving Every Day
Your bike sits unused for a while in your garage.
One beautiful sunny day, you decide to pull it out and go for a ride.
But… you don’t get very far because the petals are hard to turn.
Suddenly, you realize that the chain had become rusty from sitting too long without use.
You will need to oil the chain before you can go for your ride. So you grab the oil can and start applying the oil to the rusty chain.
As the oil begins to drop into the crevices, the petals become easier and easier to turn. You are all oiled up now and ready to go.
The “rusty chain” analogy also applies to the human body when it sits too much!
Seriously, I am not kidding when I tell you that most people who find their way to The Power to Pause are searching for relief from their “rusty chain.”
The most common complaint they confess to me is that they are sitting too much and suffering from the side effects of inactivity.
They tell me that when they rise from a seated position, they have pain in their hips, low back, knees, ankles, feet and shoulders.
When they move around a little bit, some of that pain subsides. But then, they sit again for long periods and the same thing happens again!
As I always like to say…
Movement is medicine.
And motion is lotion!
Our bodies are meant for movement. Sitting and inactivity are not natural for the human body.
I have written many times about the adverse effects of sitting, like in my blog post Sitting is the New Smoking.
For many of us, the pandemic has made us even MORE inactive than before. It takes more of a conscious effort to get moving!
But when we move, great things happen in our bodies:
Blood flow and oxygen circulate.
Our energy levels rise.
Our joints are easier to use.
We have enhanced digestion and elimination.
We reduce stress and anxiety.
We improve sleep and memory.
This is why it’s so important to stay active AND stretch.
You see, the two go together!
When we stretch, it allows our muscles to be able to function freely so that we can stay active and move without pain!
But when we DON’T stretch, our muscles remain tight, shortening and pulling away from joints, which causes pain in our movements and restricts our range of motion. Ouch.
Here are some EASY ways to improve your flexibility and increase your activity in your daily life:
Aim for 5 minutes of movement each hour.
You may not have a full hour in your busy day to devote to a workout, but if you just take 5 minutes each hour that you are awake to do something active—it equals a full hour workout at the end of the day!
Each day, set your phone timer as a reminder to get up from sitting and give yourself 5 minutes of movement each hour.
For instance, you can take 5 minutes to...
Walk to the mailbox
Walk the perimeter of your yard
Walk the perimeter of your house
Walk up and down staircase 5 times
Do 2 sets of 20 push ups off the kitchen counter
Do 30 body squats
Lunge down and back in your hallway
Take just 5 - 10 minutes to stretch it out every day.
You don’t need to devote hours of your day to stretching to begin to experience its benefits! Spend just 5 - 10 minutes a day devoted to stretching, like as you wait for your coffee to brew in the morning, while you watch your favorite evening TV program, or before you head to bed at night.
I host a Facebook live stretch break every Monday at 12 PM CST. It is very popular because I think most people are searching for just a few things that they can do to help them stretch without having to devote a lot of time to it. This is my invitation for you to join me on The Power to Pause Facebook page. A little stretching goes a long way!
You can also explore these great stretches:
