How Much Are You Sitting?

While out running this morning I decided it is a good thing I don't run with my phone that often. I kept right on running while looking at an amazing sunrise coming up over the mountains. If I had my phone in hand I would have had to stop and take a picture. The picture would not have done justice to the amazingness I was seeing, so I would have taken a couple more in hopes of getting one that would do this setting right. Instead of stopping to take a picture I kept right on running and looking in wonder.

Half way through my run my iPod died and so I enjoyed my surroundings while letting my brain wander. I decided I wanted to expand I bit on my Fit Friday post. My post was all about why gardening was so good for you. It may seem like a slightly odd post from a personal trainer and avid runner so let me tell you a bit more.

I know that everyone does not come in the same fitness mold. Not everyone wants to prioritize going to the gym everyday and focus on a body part then stare at the clock while getting in 30 minutes of cardio. Not everyone wants to train for a marathon. There are definitely things we do that help our fitness and health levels even if we don't want to. We all should get our heart rate up for at least 30 minutes more days than not (that means at least four days per week). Resistance training should be part of our routine at least two days per week. How we get either one of those accomplished needs to be up to you. Just because your neighbor goes to the gym seven days a week doesn't mean you have to. Spend a day hiking, gardening, playing at the park with your kids. There are plenty of things you can do for your health.

We also need to consider how much of our days or weeks we spend actually doing something good for ourselves. If I work out for one hour four days a week that is pretty great. How much of my week is that though? Let's say I get seven hours of sleep a night (oh, I can't wait til that day comes) and my wake time is 17hours/day. That would mean that in a given week I would work out for approx 3% of my usable week. Is 3% enough time to focus on my health? No! That is why we need to find other activities that allow us to move our body how it is built to.

Let's think through this. Joe gets up at 6am and is to the gym by 7am four days a week. He does 30 minutes of weights and 30 minutes of cardio, a plan many people follow. He then heads to his office and is in by 9am. He sits down answering emails, working on reports, crunching numbers, etc. At 1pm he heads to lunch, then back to work til 6pm. At that point in time he heads home where dinner is ready then he plants in front of the tv for his nightly dose of zone out time before heading to bed after the news at 11pm. He sat down most of his day.

This is no way to live folks. You need to find time to garden, go for a walk just for fun, head to the park, anything to keep you up and moving, Think about how you spend your time this week. Be aware of how much time you spend sitting and figure out some ways to get up a bit more.