7 tips on how to move more, and sit less…..

Come in and ask one of our Melbourne osteopath.

We can all be found guilty of this, myself included. Sitting too often and for too long. It’s particularly easy these days with everything being available at the click of a button from uber eats to netflix, it often isn’t required for us to get up and move off the couch. Lucky for you I have 7 easy tips for you to to be able to move more & sit less

1. Commuting to work – If you need to catch a train, walk/cycle to the station. If you need to drive in to work, park a 10 minute walk away. A simple and easy way to increase those steps!

2. Sit & Stand desk – It may be difficult now with a lot of our patients working from home but varying your time spent sitting and standing will help decrease stiffness and tightness through your neck and upper back. Have you tried using your kitchen bench as a standing desk?

3. Standing whilst on the phone – Use phone calls as an opportunity to stand instead of sit especially if you don’t need to use the computer at the same time. If you’ve got the freedom and you know it’s a long call even turn it into a walk.

4. Walking on Lunch breaks – We often sit down, scroll our facebook news feed and eat on our lunch break. Why not get up and walk?  If you have a local cafe near you why not walk to get a coffee or support a local small business? Whilst you’re at it you can get your daily dose of vitamin D from the sun!

5. Set an alarm in your phone – If you set an alarm every hour in your phone, it can be a nice easy trigger to remind you to get up and move/stretch. You can get up and grab a glass of water/coffee even. Or if you’re fortunate enough to own an apple/smart watch, you can set up reminder notifications on that to assist you!

6. Get in a routine – Much like having a shower in the morning, or brushing your teeth 2 x a day, everything is easier to remember if you have a routine. Why not create a routine where you can go for a walk either before or after dinner and chat with your partner or children? Even if you have to wear a mask. (We can now go more than 5km from our homes Woo Hoo)

7. Less Tv at night –  Relaxing in front of the t.v is a serious modern day ritual especially with unlimited Netflix. I’ve spent too many hours on the couch binging The Sopranos recently.. Don’t get me wrong we definitely need our wind down time to relax, but try break it up. In between episodes or on commercials, get up to make a coffee /hot chocolate, tidy up the kitchen or try something a little crazy and do a few exercises.