Give yourself 10 minutes of physical activity per hour

By Erin Mellinger, Fitness Together Fairlawn and Medina

Are you someone who sits for several hours at a time? Do you find yourself sitting in a car, an office chair or the couch for most of the day?

Hopefully you understand the value of exercise and complete a moderate to intense workout for 30 to 45 minutes most days of the week.
However, even when you do a 30-minute workout, there are still good reasons to be conscious of how much you sit.

Research has proven that getting up to move around every 30 minutes can have some amazing health benefits, including lowering the risk of heart disease and diabetes. There are even emotional benefits, too, such as better moods and a lowered risk of depression.

In fact, many doctors now recommend walking for five minutes at a time several times throughout the day over one longer walk each day—that’s only if you are sitting for hours at a time before or after that walk.

So twice an hour, try to go for a quick walk, do some body-weight squats and push-ups on the wall, climb some stairs or even just march in place. Do anything that will get your body moving, your blood flowing and your muscles working.

This should not count as your daily workout. As I’ve mentioned before, we should all strive for 250 minutes per week of exercise. That means setting aside time and exerting yourself to make gains in your strength and stamina.

This suggestion to move all day is not necessarily moving around to get the health benefits of exercise, but to avoid the health risks that come from sitting for several hours at a time each day. Do whatever you need to do to remind yourself to get up and move around for a couple minutes every half hour.

Fitness Together is located within the Medina Signature Square Shopping Center at 3725 Medina Road, Suite #106, in Medina. The Fairlawn location is at 2890 Sand Run Parkway, Suite B. Call 330-550-9839 for more information on either location. Visit FTResults.com to see testimonials from Fitness Together clients.