Get moving: sitting is the new smoking

By Tommy Trout

It’s something I’ve been hearing a lot of recently and whilst they’re not exactly comparable in impact – the sentiment, “sitting is the new smoking”, is fair. Sedentary lifestyle is a big contributor to poor health outcomes for people – especially for people with disabilities. Why? We were built to move, not sit down for hours at a time. But here’s the interesting part; we are also wired to conserve energy, AKA sitting down.

Animals don’t exercise for the sake of it, or to look better, their activity is aligned to their survival instincts and programming. Cats play to simulate hunting, dogs play to improve social cohesion in their pack, if they patrol the home, it’s to protect their territory, etc (yes my cat is in the room as I’m writing this, she says hello). Humans, evolutionarily speaking, needed to be prepared for dangers or tasks we no longer need to face so now we have all this stored energy we aren’t using. Hunting and gathering is now done via UberEats or a quick drive to the local Woolies. Which is why exercise andmovement needs to be a conscious choice.

This is why I’ve agreed to become an ambassador for Million Moves by AUSactive, the peak body for fitness in Australia. I’ve started up a team ‘Inclusive AF’ and want to invite all of you to join and along with me, pledge to make 75 moves every day in the month of September. Even if you’re late to the party you can join halfway. What I love about this initiative is that it’s set around movement, not ‘workouts’ or set exercise prescriptions.

Currently, it is recommended that we complete 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. Which is only 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week! Even if that exercise is just going for a walk, gardening in the back yard, dancing at home or running around playing with your cat (yes, my cat suggested that last part). Movement promotes improved mood, better sleep, more energy and releases feel good endorphins. How many times have youregretted exercising? Finding 30 minutes a day to move around is achievable and as long as you have a body that is capable of ANY movement, you can get involved in this initiative.

So what do you do?

Use the QR code below and join my team. Set up a quick and easy profile and then everyday log your exercise. If you want to post and share it on social media you can tag me and AUSactive as well;

@troutie_ @aus_active @_million_moves

Thanks for reading, sign up to the million moves and get active!