You don’t need to wander through the desert in search of a fountain of youth. Getting outside and moving your body will help you grow strong and stay young without the risks of genies and bottles.
If we told you there was a once daily supplement you can take that would make you feel better, look better, smile more, and live longer - with the only side effect being an earlier bedtime - who wouldn’t take it!? While there is no magic pill that can bring improvement to all corners of your life, movement might be the next best thing.
We wanted to make a snack that helps you move because we believe wholeheartedly in the healing power of exercise. Whether it's a satisfactory buzz after an epic surf, the calm mental peace that accompanies a walk in the woods, or the hum of shavasana, moving our bodies does much more than strengthen our muscles.
Any small step for you is a giant leap for your well-being.
You don’t need to make lofty goals or set new gym records to make a real impact on your health. Exercise can combat chronic illnesses, retrain your brain, and send good energy through your entire body in 20 minutes or less.
You Are Your Own Remedy
All we can control in this world is ourselves. While on some days it feels like even that is impossible, movement is a key factor in physical, mental, and spiritual health. The goodness movement pumps into your body and brain is all-encompassing.
Sitting is the new smoking. The modern world often requires hours spent hunched at a desk
or behind the wheel. A few days spent sedentary can easily creep up on you and slowly zap your lust for life. We’ve been raised to blame our foul moods on external factors, but the truth is your mood is most heavily impacted by the food you eat and the moves you make.
Countless studies have proven that simple movements make a big difference. From your head down to your toes, movement pumps serotonin into your brain, increases blood flow, strengthens the lungs, loosens the joints, stimulates the immune system, lowers cancer risks, helps you fall asleep, and boosts your cardiovascular system - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
There is plenty of research out there that suggests regular exercise can treat depression better than medication, and one thing that every blue zone has in common, (in addition to yummy, healthy snacks!) is a healthy portion of casual physical activity. So, let’s explore a few ways to get your daily dose!
9 Tips to Start Exercising
Carving out a space for movement in your life is a serious commitment. It’s all about showing up every day and building healthy habits. You might not always love brushing your teeth, but hopefully you can’t imagine going a day or two without giving your teeth some love. Treat your body the same way.
Unfortunately there is no grand secret that gets us out of bed in the morning. There will be plenty of struggle as you find your greatness. The good news is, you can do hard things. And, you don’t have to finish an ironman to feel the benefits of movement.
Just 150 minutes a week of movement is enough to build a healthy lifestyle, but five minutes is better than nothing! These movement tips will get your blood flowing and help clear your mind without requiring dramatic changes to your day to day life.
1. Start Your Day In Motion
It’s all too easy to put off your exercise. You mentally pencil in a workout after work, but you get held up late, your mom calls, and the kids need help with their homework. All of a sudden you’re debating a second plate at dinner time, or nice and comfy on the couch after a long day, and the only exercise you’re capable of is some heavy digesting.
A few light stretches in the morning or a walk to feel the sunrise in the neighborhood will get your day going on the right track.
2. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
If you look hard enough, you’ll always find someone doing more than you, but you’ll also always find someone doing less. The life people broadcast to the world is not real, and feeling like you’ll never be as good as everyone else can make us all feel like giving up.
Asking around and getting advice from your active friends and family is all in good fun, but Every person’s body is a bit different, that’s what makes the world a great place. The only thing we all have in common is that all of our bodies crave fluid motion.
3. Keep Track
It takes 21 days to turn a new activity into a habit in your brain. Slotting movement to your morning will feel wonky on day one, but soon enough your body won’t take any urging at all to set things in motion.
A great way to hit that benchmark is to actively monitor your progress. Loads of applications who have spent millions of dollars trying to vie for our attention have figured out that once we start monitoring how many days in a row we log on, we log on more just to keep streaking.
Exercise can work the same way. If you start monitoring how many days a week you exercise you’ll be looking for ways to squeeze in a few push ups just to keep the streak alive.
4. Get Up From the Desk Once an Hour
Consider this tip your doctor's note and tell your boss to shove off every now and then, those emails can wait an extra ten minutes. Even a walk across the street or to the break room is enough to kickstart the body after an hour spent sedentary.
There’s plenty of legitimate science that says 10 minutes of movement after 50 minutes at the desk will bring a more productive workday. If you’re stuck staring at a problem that feels unfixable, moving around can get your mind off things and help you come back with a fresh perspective.
5. Try a New Sport on Vacation
Vacation days are some of the best of the year. How often do we come home from a trip wishing we could take some of the positive energy we felt on the road and put it in our day to day life?
A sneaky way to enjoy exercise and bring your vacation home is to try new things while on holiday. Maybe something sticks and now every time you head to yoga class you’re mentally transported to the sunset over coastal cliffs.
Movement will never become a part of your daily routine if you’re miserable every time you set out. It's easier to fall in love with activity when you’re in a relaxed state of mind. Renting bikes for the day on your next trip is a great way to explore a new area, and if the family has fun riding together over the holidays, chances are you’ll get a kick out of it every weekend.
6. Get Wet
Modern life is impossible without a cell phone. While having an entire world of knowledge in our pocket is incredible, it is also incredibly distracting. I’ve planned on working out several
times only to wind up zoned out on the couch until dinner.
Luckily, it’s impossible to bring your phone into the water. Water sports are holistic experiences, and it starts with what you can’t do while in the pool. Leave the phone in the locker and clear your head.
7. Form A Community Around Movement
This week alone, there are well more than 20 events currently listed on meetup.com that involve meeting together and moving around in Santa Cruz alone. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Between scouring facebook and internet groups, checking out local bulletin boards, or heading to local rec centers and starting a friendly conversation with reception, you’re bound to come across open groups of eager movers.
Whether it's intentional dancing, hiking clubs, or introductory organizations to extreme sports, folks love meeting up and heading out to get their heart rates up.
8. Consider Adoption
Good luck sleeping in when your pup is ready to rumble. When the choice is between taking the dog on a walk or cleaning some poop up off the floor, movement gets much more enticing. Dogs need to move just as much as we do, and teaming up with your dog will get you out of the house 3-4 times a day.
Please note, we say consider, as in think carefully about something. Adopting a dog is a serious commitment, and is not something you should do just because you need to get out of the house more.
9. Don’t Beat Yourself Up
This is not a message against trying Ju-jitsu. In an actual, physical sense, beating yourself up can be great! There is nothing like the first wipeout of a surf session to wake up the mind onto the task at hand.
Rather, this is a message urging you not to take this talk too seriously. Movement is medicine, but you’re not going to get sick by missing one workout. Life is absolutely bonkers. Things are going to come up, sleep is going to be missed, and nobody is feeling 100% every day.
Some days you’re the dog, some days you're the hydrant. When the world seems to be lifting its hind legs right in your face, exercise can help, but some quality time spent in bed every now and then isn’t going to hamper your progress.