What is one of the best anti-ageing medicines available to us?
Start moving like a child.
It’s an understatement to say that my 1 year old moves a lot. She is constantly on the go.
As I’m writing this she is squatting to pick up her dirty nappy bag and then swinging it above her head in victorious exhilaration. I should probably stop her. Anyway, over the last 5 minutes she has crawled, walked, squatted, thrown, pulled things over, rolled and always banging with her hands like she’s a mini “hulk”. It’s terrifying.
You may have heard of “intermittent fasting” but have you heard of “intermittent movement”? This is quite simply carrying out a ton of low intensity movements throughout our day. Good examples are house work, gardening, walking and running up the stairs.
I’m not sure if it’s just me but when I watch people (that’s not meant to sound creepy!) and they are hunched over their phone or tablet, getting an “iPad-neck” or just sitting at their desk for hour upon hour, something just seems very wrong about it. Aren’t humans designed to move? To interact with the world they live in? We have become these static, motionless, sick machines. We can’t have that.
When did you stop moving?
When do these super active children suddenly get all grown up and cease to move? As we develop and mature shouldn’t our movement morph with us, so that we move with more strength and speed and finesse? But it seems adulthood with all of its responsibility and technology has stunted this fundamental pursuit of movement.
What is the remedy for this disaster? We have to go back to the beginning and start moving like a child again.
Rediscovering movement.
1. Try to walk for 20 minutes every day. It’s the perfect low intensity movement, throughout time we have always walked, a lot. (You could try crawling, but not in public please)
2. Always run up stairs!
3. Aim to complete a number of bodyweight movements every day, use them to break up your sitting. (I usually go for 30 pull ups and push ups, you could try air squats, kettlebell swings or skipping – just do them at random intervals throughout your day)
4. Stand up as much as you can. Consider transforming you work station into a standing one.
5. Go to the gym and do some lifting and sprint work at lunch time
6. Check out posture training. Kelly Starrett and his “Mobility WOD” is a fantastic resource to get you sitting, standing and walking correctly.
7. Find an active hobby like gardening or rock climbing.
8. Try swinging your nappy bag around your head.
If you have mobility issues or ill health, scale it to where you’re at.
Dorchester personal trainer - Dave Wall - www.dorchesterpersonaltraining.co.uk
