Transform Your Health And Wellness With 16 Movement Tips From Top Experts
Your body doesn’t know if you’re at the gym or if you’re in the shower – as long as you’re moving, it’s going to be happy!
Since movement is a lot easier to work into our busy lives than carving out gym time, I asked my favourite popular movement experts for their best movement tips to move more in daily life, no extra time required. They really came through with amazing, creative ideas that show how easy it can be to increase your movement nutrition. There’s something for everyone here, including my personal favourites from Katy Bowman, Brooke Thomas and Brea Johnson. Plus, I couldn’t resist slipping one in myself. I hope you love this list as much as I do!
When you’re done reading, I’d love to hear your favourite trick for adding extra movement to your day, in the comments!
#1 “Multitask Your Daily Life!”
I’m busy and don’t have time to set aside one or two hours every day to work on just corrective exercises. My trick for sneaking a little bit more movement into my day is to use up the little bits of time when I’m not really doing anything, or nothing important. Ya know, multitasking! 🙂 Like holding hands with my feet doing a figure four stretch while washing my toes, so I get a toe stretch and hip stretch at the same time in the shower. I try to do single leg balance and forward hip hinging while loading the dishwasher. And I work on my toe extension (toe lifting) and abduction (spreading) while sitting on the toilet.
These sorts of things get me greater positive change and help me create a new body shape – one that feels and works better – faster!
Breena Maggio,The B.E.A.C.H. (Body Education Alignment Center for Health)
Hi! I’m Petra.
#2 “Get your hips and glutes to do the work instead of your lower back!”
I have three little people in my life. On the regular, I’m wiping faces, fixing hair, giving baths, etc. Instead of mindlessly bending over to help them, I use a standing squat (with vertical shins, of course) to get down the their level. Self care and kid care all at the same time!
Jennifer Hoffman, Healthy Moving
#3 “What’s worked really well for me is cleaning my house as movement breaks.”
I use cleaning the house for my movement breaks. It’s quite entertaining to watch – I will go out and sweep the patio and water my plants, which requires a lot of larger shoulder movements – alternating between right and left side and using my less dominant side to do the work. I squat to check my plants for caterpillars or aphids. Then inside, I may squat down and walk around washing the floor with a hand rag other than a long-handle mop. I will also crawl and mop with the hand-held rag, to the amusement of my husband. You can use any household chore and make it fun – forward bends for laundry, filing papers while standing on one foot, jumping stairs between floors…the sky is the limit for what you can do to transform dreaded chores into movement opportunities.
Galina Denzel, Move Well Studio
#4 “I use my phone time as movement time.”
Getting enough movement into my day is something I have had to think about much more in this last year than ever before. I lived in NYC for 10 years, and living there meant I walked anywhere from 5 to 8 miles every day, just getting around to see all my private yoga clients. Now that I live in a car based culture, I have had to look for ways to keep my body moving!
I try to avoid sitting down in a chair while taking phone calls. As much as possible, whether I have a personal or professional phone call to make, I grab my phone, ear buds and head out to walk the trail behind my house. If walking outside doesn’t feel like an option– than while I’m on the phone I move between gentle yoga shapes like sphinx, side lying savasana or upavista konasana.
Francesca Cervero, Francesca Cervero Yoga
#5 “Your garden can be your best work-out – and a chance to help the planet.”
#6 “Change the shape of your habitat.”
Out of all the changes I’ve made over the years–to my workout routine, my footwear, my diet, my lifestyle–changing the shape of my home, by getting rid of living and dining room furniture, adding river rock to my foyer, and ditching my cushy mattress and pillow, has been the most effective and efficient way of changing the shape of my body. My hips and knees and core and leg muscles carry me to and away from the floor a hundred times a day. The wobbly, textured rock paths I walk over forty times a day force me to pay attention and keep my feet and ankles strong. While you move through your habitat, your habitat moves you right back.
Katy Bowman, Nutritious Movement
#7 “Playtime with my dogs gives my body a break, too!”
#8 “I like to create little movement scavenger hunts for my son and I to get extra movement into our days.”
I like to create little movement scavenger hunts for my son and I to get extra movement into our days. The way it works is to pick a natural movement or two- things like jumping, carrying, climbing over things, walking- and either use them as a theme for the day, or for some time out on the trail. So for example, on a full day that we deemed a carrying day, I wouldn’t use a cart at the grocery store, and maybe I’d carry my son (aged 9) around the neighborhood for a bit, and instead of dropping my clean sheets off at my office by parking nearby (I’m a Rolfer, we always need clean sheets…), I would park far away and head-carry them there in a bundle or simply chest carry them.
On the trail my son loves creating movement scavenger hunts. We’ll head out into the woods and at the start of our walk he’ll pick a few things, say balancing, lifting, and throwing, and then we look for as many opportunities to do those movements as possible. We’ll balance on fallen trees, lift heavy stones and logs, and throw rocks into the pond. It’s an easy way to see the world through a movement lens and to turn everything into your playground!
#9 “I brought the gym into my home.”
When our 2 year old son was diagnosed with Autism we decided that it’d be best for our family if I stayed home to be there for his intensive therapy. So as a former personal trainer who got plenty of movement in throughout the day this new lifestyle required me to find ways to integrate natural movement into my daily life without extra time.
I had to expand the way I saw my home and find opportunities to nourish my body with multi-dimensional and complex movements that I otherwise would miss out on due to our very busy schedule. I made a few modifications in my home that easily reinforced frequent movement breaks– -which actually help me feel more productive and energized to tackle daily tasks. For example, I have a 2×4 board that I can lay out on the floor for balancing movements while playing with my son. I also installed a pull-up bar into a door frame so that I can brachiate on the regular and reap the many benefits of hanging whenever I walked through the door.
Finding more ways to move your body without adding in more time to your already busy schedule really requires you to look around and get creative with your environment. Immerse yourself and explore all the possibilities to move, play, and restore.
#10 “Work in more walking with what you’re already doing.”
#11 “Treat your feet while you brush your teeth.”
#12 “This simple strategy reminds me to move more while working, and makes me more productive, too!”
When I get in the flow of work, I can find myself stuck in one position for hours. I use the Pomodoro Technique to remind me to get up and move for just five minutes every twenty five. Pomodoro improves productivity by keeping your mind fresh and focused, and the movement breaks are great for improving blood sugar, insulin response, and keeping your body healthy and mobile.
#13 “I wake up my hips while I make coffee to wake up my brain.”
#14 “Take the road less traveled. Literally.”
#15 “Stand up for shoes on.”
#16 “Transition to a movement-friendly wardrobe.”
Building in more daily movement is the perfect way to stay healthy and active! But sometimes we get busy and forget. So I made you this super handy cheatsheet to help you out – hooray! Just print it out and stick it somewhere you know you’re going to see it. Each time you do one of the expert movement tips, check it off. Then, repeat all day. Or, you can use the fillable PDF version to keep on top of all these simple but powerful ways to add more movement to your life!
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Petra is a movement educator and personal trainer with a passion for helping people find greater ease, joy and health in their bodies. She believes that better movement can help every body - and she's always happy to chat about it. She's on the road right now, travelling the world and moving in as many ways as possible. When she's not out exploring or working on her movement practice, you can probably find her hanging on some monkey bars.
I love Brooke’s tip about creating movement scavenger hunts with her son. I have a seven-year-old, so I’m already seeing creative opportunities to level up our nature walks! I think that the best part of this tip is that it forces a perspective change. Movements that we might not otherwise take because they require extra effort or “risk” (like balancing on logs on a trail walk) suddenly become something we seek out on a scavenger hunt. Yhe more opportunities we give our body to delight in these movements the more we will naturall gravitate toward them. Super cool!!
I totally agree! It’s so easy to self-select out of doing things without even realizing it, and the ‘scavenger hunt’ idea allows you to shift completely!
Great new site P! I look forward to taking a more thorough gander.
I remind myself to use my less dominant side for tasks and chores. Dusting, vacuuming, washing dishes, opening and closing doors, brushing hair and teeth (teeth is hard and sometimes gets a little messy). I also try to initiate movement with my left (less dominant) side when I’m walking up or down stairs. I know this isn’t new to you 🙂
xo
That’s a great one! I’ve been trying to put my pants on the other way recently and it’s hard to remember. Such a good way to keep challenging your brain!
My favorite morning move is to clear the dishwasher (we use it as a drying rack – more movement in washing dishes by hand!). I get squatting and reaching in, and because I’m short and we have high shelves, I also get some climbing in (I tested the weight capacity of the shelves first!). And because there is a doorway next to the shelves, with a (stable) decorative feature, to get down, I turn and hang from that, and slowly lower myself to the ground. My day isn’t ready without clearing the dishwasher first!
I LOVE that you’re actually climbing around on your shelves! Your kitchen is basically a playground!
I use my commute in the summer to bike into work and, in the winter, since I am impatient and can’t sit still in the freezing cold, I try to out run the streetcars. Heading home, I check the TTC app, and in rush hour if its a 5-6 minute wait, I can generally walk 15-20 minutes before the streetcar catches up to me! I usually call my mom while I walk and end up walking the entire 50 minutes home.
That’s a perfect way to stack your life – catching up with parents and getting a walk in!
This is brilliant Petra! I agree that when we start incorporating regular movement into our lives we will be less apt to look at it as a chore. Thanks for putting this together for more inspiration!
And it saves time! Change is all about frequency!
I live moving! On our daily walks to the school n back we smell all flowers, check out the warms, listen for the birds all while squatting, bending, reaching up (or lifting up one the little ones), pretend flyig like airplanes, jumping from puddle to puddle, rolling in any snow or kicking snow balls…. and while at the park, I make sure I.sit down on the ground every second as every other minute I need to get up to help on the slide, to lift on the swing, to catch a bug, to make a sandcake ect. so everytime I sit n get up using all of my body, even with the growing baby belly…. (all while other moms watch me with curiosity, if you know what I mean!? lol) Movement outside is amazing for body n mind, it provides bondig n healing for me n kids 🙂
I love that you’re out there doing it! I agree, when I’m at a playground I get all these strange looks from parents who could be doing so much for themselves!
Loved all of these tips. I particularly liked the scavenger hunt and squatting to meet kids too because I have 4 under 8. Both those tips seemed like very easy ways to get more movement in with what’s going on around me.
That’s so great! I love the scavenger hunt too – it’s so easy to miss movement opportunities because we’re so trained to walk along paths and do nothing much!
Squat:
while brushing my teeth
While reading reports at work
Calf stretch:
Washing up
Team meetings at work
I now have the whole team standing & stretching during meetings and they keep stealing my 1/2 roller ha ha ha
And squatting to tidy up the toy room 🙂
So many chances to get squatting into the mix!
Ok, so you get super bonus points for spreading the word! That’s amazing!
Ooh I love this list! What a super blog post! One of my new favourite no-extra-time ways of incorporating movement into my day is by switching the lights off (or closing my eyes) when I brush my teeth. It means I brush less, err, vehemently and more thoroughly, and often I also practice improving my proprioceptive system and balance by pelvic listing/standing on one leg all the while. If I remember I add a single leg forward bend to spit, though by then I’ve usually switched the lights back on 🙂
Thanks, Kerry! I love this idea! I’ve never tried eyes closed tooth brushing before, it’s genius!
I like to DustBuster our large living room floor on my hands and knees to get some quadri(tri?)ped time in.
I love it!
We installed hanging rings on one of our trees. So whenever I let our dog out to run around in the yard, I go out with her too and hang for a few minutes. It feels so great for my computer weary shoulders.
Nice! I have rings (indoors, sadly) and I love them!
Some great new ideas here, as well as some of my favorites. I love using time in lines as a chance to do some movement. I’ll make sure that I’m aligned well and do some calf elevation (WITHOUT letting my ankles evert) or work on those glute meds with a little pelvic listing. If I’m not holding anything, I also like to do some wrist and finger stretches.
Such a great way to use that time where you’d otherwise be reading magazine headlines! Great tip!
Hi P! These are all great ideas, some which I’m glad to say I had “invented” all on my own. I love your new website – very engaging.
Thanks so much, Jose! I hope there are some new ones to help you out, too!
Since I took the Move Your DNA workshop, I have been listing while I brush my teeth. I couldn’t get my lateral hips to wake up during the training when I first did this exercise. And, now I can really feel them kicking in.
Isn’t that the best feeling! Hips are awesome! and so are clean teeth 🙂