Post-Surgery Program: Making Movement Work For You

Making Movement Work For You
With Alex Shirley

Do you enjoy physical activity, do it regularly and feel like you’re getting the results that you want? 

If you don’t then you may be forgetting one or more of the 5 simple keys to making movement work for you. Alex, Fresh Start's Health and Wellness Coach, takes you through these keys in today’s video.

Action Guide

After you’ve watched the video, download our additional resource which helps you apply the keys that you’ve learnt today.

Energising Exercise

If you’re just getting back into exercise then have a look at our simple energising exercise routine that can be done at home.

You can read the transcript for this video below:

Transcript: Post-Surgery Program - Week 12: (Movement) Making Movement Work for You

Hi, it’s Alex here, a health and wellness coach at Fresh Start and today I want to talk to you about physical activity and movement and how to make movement really work for you, even if it hasn’t in the past.

Now you probably know that physical activity and movement are really important for your health and we’re not just talking physical health, we’re also talking mental and emotional health as well. There are so many health benefits to physical activity and movement. It’s essential for a healthy heart. It builds a stronger body with better metabolism. It improves your immune system. It improves your memory. It improves your mood. It helps you sleep better. It reduces stress levels. It combats emotional eating. There are so many health benefits. In fact it’s very difficult to achieve your health and wellness goals and weight management goals unless you’re doing enough physical activity in your life. 

Today I want to share with you 5 keys for making physical activity and movement work for you, even if it hasn’t in the past. I’m going to show you how to make it an enjoyable part of your life. I’m going to show you how you can get the health benefits from moving more and these benefits are then going to flow into other areas of your life. They’re going to improve your social life, your family life and your career etc. 

Before I start, I want to quickly remind you that physical activity and movement is a form of stress on the body, so it’s really important to consult with your medical practitioner before starting any movement program. 

1 Make Movement A Must

The first key is making physical activity and movement work for you is to make it a must rather than a should and to link it to what you value most in life.. 

If you’re not moving enough at the moment then it’s maybe because you don’t value it enough. In life we tend to spend our time and energy on the things that we value the most. So if you’re not moving enough now, it’s not that you have less time than anyone else in the day – we all have 24 hours. It’s how you’re choosing to spend that time. If your highest value is family then you’ll be putting your family first and family business will come before physical activity. If your highest value is your career then you’ll put work before movement. If your highest value is socialising and supporting your friends then you’ll probably put socialising before movement. 

So, the easy way to make movement happen is to link it in your mind to what you value most. For example, if your highest value is family, how will moving more help your family? If you write down at least 20 reasons why moving more will help your family then you’ll soon naturally want to start moving more. For example, one reason could be that it will give you the health and energy to be able to look after your family properly. You’ll live a longer life and be able to spend more time with them. You’ll be a role model of health for your family so they are more likely to be healthy and live longer. You’ll be in a better mood and so your interactions with your family will be better. As soon as you start linking movement to your highest values – you’ll realise that making a regular habit is a MUST not a should.  So think about all the ways that moving more will help you in the areas in life that you value most. 

2 Make Movement Enjoyable

The second key is to make physical activity and movement enjoyable and to stop seeing it as a chore, something on your ‘to do list’ or as a way of making up for poor food and drink choices. 

People who are active regularly, and who sustain it, do it because they enjoy it. If you have a busy life then the only way that you’re going to stick to a particular activity program is if you make your physical activity and movement something that you really want to do. There are many ways to move your body but the best physical activity and movement program in the world is the one that you will actually do. 

Research shows that for a habit to be more likely to stick, it needs to be enjoyable. So if you don’t like the idea of going to the gym and pushing yourself hard with an intense workout or going running on the pavements and you see this as painful and punishment  - then the chances are that you will never make it happen consistently. The reality is that this type of workout may also give you poor results as well as you must balance your movement with your health and the amount of stress that you’re currently under.

So what are the options to make it enjoyable? Well really this is up to you but rather than looking at intense exercise (e.g. boot camps, running, intense gym classes, boxing circuits, intense bike rides or stair climbs)  you would probably get much better results by instead going for easier, gentler, enjoyable movement that energises you and puts you in a good mood and reduces your stress levels and appetite. 

Great options include:

• easy enjoyable walking, 

• easy bike riding, 

• easy swimming or water aerobics

• easy kayaking or rowing, 

• dancing,

• short individualised weight training/resistance training sessions,

• yoga, pilates, tai chi, and stretching and

• light gardening . 

So I invite you to let go of thinking about what you believe you ‘should’ be doing and start thinking about what you really want to do. Think about being active as simply moving your body in some way, rather than something that has specific rules or looks a certain way. 

3. Add Accountability

The third key is to become accountable and to find other people who will keep you in check. This key builds on the first 2 keys - because even if you now value and enjoy physical activity and movement, squeezing it into a busy life on a regular basis takes commitment and discipline, and the creation of habits. One of the best ways to make sure that you stick with it is to make yourself accountable, and maybe to do it with a partner or in a group. Humans are social  animals and we like to do what the rest of the tribe or herd is doing. You're so much more likely to turn up and commit if you've arranged to meet someone because if you don't meet them then you'll be letting them down and this social pressure really works. The social element may also make the experience much more enjoyable for you too. Find a group that you can move with where you have things in common with that group. E.g. If you're a new mum then find a pram fitness group where you can move with other mums. If you’re retired then find other retired people who are moving regularly - e.g. walking group, swimming group, fishing group or golf or bowls.

4. Use Progressive Overload

The next key to making movement work for you is to start being active at the level that is appropriate for you and then to use the concept of progressive overload. So many people dislike exercise because they start out way too hard and then struggle with aches and pains and injuries. When you use progressive overload, you set yourself free of these worries. Progressive overload means starting out at the right level for you and then consistently challenging yourself with very small and achievable steps. 

So start out with a bit of extra movement in your day – if you’ve been doing nothing then perhaps 30 minutes of walking is too much right from the start - perhaps a 10 minute walk around the block is more appropriate for you. Once you start out at the right level, progressive overload then means that you continue to do just a little bit more and a little bit better over time with your chosen activity. So say for example that you walk with a friend for 20 minutes on one week then on the next week rather than dramatically increasing this to a 40-minute jog, you both walk for 25 minutes or you walk for 20 minutes but at a slightly faster pace for the whole session or for part of the session. This will help you to sustain your new regime and minimise your risk of injury. It will also make it much more enjoyable.

5. Plan Your Movement

The final key to making movement work for you is to plan your movement. Most people lead busy lives, and trying to find some extra time can be a challenge. This is why it is so, so important to plan your week in relation to the activity that you want to incorporate. This will make it much more likely to happen. 

Being active first thing in the morning  before other commitments get in the way often works really well and will generally put you in a great state that flows into the rest of your day. So get out your diary or planner and schedule movement in. 

If you’re really busy and really don’t think you have time for scheduled movement then look for opportunities to do incidental movement instead – if you’re at your desk then stand up and walk around when you’re on the phone, if you’re travelling to work then get off the bus a stop earlier and walk the rest of the way, if you’re doing the shopping then park the car further away and walk for a few minutes to get there, if you have the choice of using a lift or taking the stairs then go for the stairs. 

I trust you found those keys useful. When you add physical activity and movement into your life, it really, really does give you some great benefits. It makes you feel good. It helps you reach your weight goals. It makes you live longer. It makes you happier. So go out there and set yourself some small achievable goals. 

I want to leave you with one of my favourite quotes by Lao Tzu who said ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’