Project MOVE.

This post sprung into my mind as I really do feel that at-least 30% of my patients would minimise their aches and pains if only they took some “ME time”. This Me time is something I am actually good at doing, nowadays I work less at weekends and always take 1-2 hours out of my day to exercise. I always wonder how long it takes my patients to naturally fall into a routine of no exercise... It happens all too easily.

Some of my clients are not sporty at all but have come from sporty childhoods that were unfortunately short lived after going through the motions of university, travelling, job stresses, children, injuries and many other ‘hurdles’ that get in the way of taking that valuable time to actually do what we are meant to do as human beings.

Before I continue…. Ask yourself this one Question!

If I had a car on the drive for over two months, the grass had grown around it and it had gone through a cold winter… Would I expect this car to run smoothly… If at all?

This car is us… We may go through the motions of going to work and coming home again but our lives have become so in-active, and this is not me saying that people are ‘lazy’ because most of my clients are so busy with work, work, work, socialising and family commitments they are from it… But because our minds are going 100 miles per hour we forget that our bodies subsequently are not.

We sleep from anywhere between 5-9 hours a night, a lot of us drive or sit on the train to work, a lot of us will sit at a desk from anywhere between 5-12 hours a day, and a lot of us will be so tired from this we will have a sit down and eat our dinner, followed by the warmth and comfort of our sofas. On top of this is we have work related stress and any other stresses going on around us, that again we are not venting or releasing from our body and minds, yet collecting energy, stress and tightening up the nuts and bolts around us.

These clients, the ones who I want to get a hammer and a chisel to their frustratingly tight muscles often hear “do this stretch and these glute exercises to counteract what you do” are now going to hear “yes do them but If you don’t have time for this, at-least MOVE”

The benefits of MOVING more in a nut shell

• Improves muscle efficiency and joint support

• Helps reduce depression

• Helps release endorphins that make us happier

• Helps improve blood circulation and our lymphatic system

• Can help reduce the risk of diseases such as osteoporosis and high blood pressure

• Helps reduce muscle aches and pains

• Helps reduce injury by creating a stronger more dynamic body

• Helps keep us supple and strong

• Helps reduce the risk of injury

• Mentally stimulates us and can help with thinking, memory, intelligence and any other brain activity

• Can help improve our speed and awareness by making us more alert

• Will help us Lose weight if only we ate less and did more!

I would love to see my clients, and anybody else who finds themselves reading this improving their quality of life by finding a new love for exercise and moving, whatever that may be, wherever they find that enjoyment and for however long they want to be active for… If only people MOVED more!!

Ideas of doing this

• Get up from the sofa in the ads

• Get a standing desk

• Walk around the office every hour

• Take a class in your lunch break

• Join a new class of something that has always interested you

• Walk or cycle to work

• Do a 15 min exercise routine morning and evening

• Walk to get your shopping

• Take a weekend walk and end up at the pub – Now that is a good one !!

I hope you enjoy your new active week and please do let me know how you get on.

Thanks for reading!