Have a snack…

…a movement snack, that is.

Unless you are essential personnel, you are spending a lot more time at home these days. This probably means more time sitting and working in unusual places like your couch or (in my case) on the bed in your spare bedroom.

Most of you sit at your regular offices. However, you likely have a real desk and an appropriate chair. Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a standing or sit-stand desk. 

If you work in a big city like Chicago, you also probably walk a lot as part of your daily routine. You walk to and from the train, when you go out for lunch, and when you hit the gym after work. All of this movement adds up and helps your body and brain operate at higher capacities.

Working from home is another matter entirely. Many people actually work more hours – and therefore sit more – when they’re wfh.

Even if you do get up to do things, you are limited by your space. It takes me 10 seconds to walk from one end of my apartment to the other. Contrast that with my gym, where I have to go up and down a flight of stairs every time I want to use the restroom.

Being stuck at home means we are all moving less and sitting more. This is a recipe for feeling sore, achey, cranky, and sluggish during a time when we are already operating at high stress levels. If you’re feeling pain or soreness in unusual areas, I can almost guarantee it’s coming from the way you’re sitting and working.

One way to counteract all this sitting is to be proactive and schedule movement breaks (I call them movement snacks) in your day. You may not realize it, but after a long period of sitting and working your body and brain are going to be hungry for movement.

You can create a movement snack using any combination of movements. I generally pick three or four stretches, bodyweight movements, and drills that hit as many joints as possible. Shoulders, backs, hips, and necks tend to get particularly tight after too much sitting.

Here are four options I’ve been using a lot:

Walkout + pushup + 3 point lunge each side + walk back, repeat 3-5 times 

 5 standing head nods + 5 wall slides + 2 standing hip CARs each side 

 5 cat cows + 5 hip rockers + 3 squat to stand w/ rotation 

 3 bodyweight squats + 2 shoulder CARs on each side

After any movement snack, walk around your home for 1-2 minutes before sitting down and resuming work or Netflix.

For best results, I suggest having a movement snack every hour on the hour. You can set a recurring alarm on your phone or computer to remind you that it’s time for a break.

If every hour seems like too much, or if that will seriously disrupt your work flow, do every 90 minutes or 2 hours. The important thing is to make a conscious effort to get up and move on a regular basis.

Building movement snacks into your wfh routine is one small thing you can do to feel better right now. If you want more help designing home workouts, join my WFH club. I’m sending members three done-for-you home workouts three times every week. Learn more and join us here.