7 Ways To Get More Movement At Home

If you’re like us, the current coronavirus situation means that you’re spending more time at home than usual. You’re probably not getting the exercise that you usually do. In the short term, that really doesn’t matter. Your body will be fine with a couple of days without exercise. It’ll even be fine for a week or two. But in the long term, we all need to find ways to move more while at home.

We’re here to help!

Here are 7 of our favourite ways to get more movement while at home.

BTW - When reading the list keep in mind that you’re body doesn’t need to train to be healthy (that’s a gym industry myth). What it needs to do is move, and specifically it needs to move regularly (quantity), it needs to move well (quality) and it needs to move in lots of different ways (variety). This list focuses on boosting your quantity and variety of movement.

7 ways to get more movement at home

SIT ON THE FLOOR

Sitting on the floor rather than a couch does two great things for us all. It makes you get up and down from the floor (did we just hide some movement in there?) and it makes you adopt a variety of sitting positions you won’t normally find sitting on the couch. This variety is great for you! So next time you sit down to watch the TV, do it on the floor.

PLAY WITH THE KIDS

Many of us aren’t just spending more time at home ourselves; our kids are too! This can both be very tough (think stir crazy children!) but it’s also a great opportunity. If you set aside the time to play with your kids there’s a really good chance you’ll end up moving a lot (have you noticed how kids like to move?), or at the very least if you have young children you’ll end up sitting on the floor more (see above).

CLEAN THOSE LOW CUPBOARDS

Have you got that low down corner cupboard that’s full of old stuff that you really should clean out? Wonderful, not only does being stuck at home mean that you’re in the right place to do it, but cleaning it is a great way to sneak in great variety of different squats and lunges, not to mention some stretches as you reach into that deep and dark back corner!

PARTICIPATE IN MOVEMENT GAMES AND CHALLENGES WITH THE KIDS

Setting movement games and challenges for the kids is a great way to keep them (and you) happy and moving at home.

Don’t know what to set?

Check out this video for one idea, and then this blog post of ours for more!

BRUSH YOUR TEETH WITH THE OTHER HAND

Yep, even brushing your teeth presents an opportunity to move more. Sure, it’s only a small movement, but it’s still valuable. For starters, it’ll challenge your brain in all sorts of amazing ways, but it will also do good things for your body.

Next time you pick up your toothbrush in your dominant hand, notice how your upper body twists a little to the other side as you brush?

Now try the other hand. Does it feel even?

Probably not. Brushing your teeth with the other hand can help to undo some of this asymmetrical tightness.

CLEAN THE FLOORS

Okie dokie, we have to admit, the floors at home don’t get cleaned as much as they should. But being at home more gives us the chance to finally do it. That’s amazing news, because cleaning them hides all sorts of movement possibilities, particularly if you get down and do it by hand (yeah, like your grandmother used to back in the day!). Think of this is a combination of you normal squat/ lunge routine and the stretching that you do at yoga, but you’re not paying someone for the pleasure and you get clean floors at the end. It’s a pretty good deal really!

LEARN A SKILL!

Use your time at home to learn a new skill. For example, this next video shows you how to learn to throw (use a rolled up sock as a ball if you’re doing this indoors), this page shows your more movement skills and here you’ll find over 400+ how-to movement videos!

THE MORAL OF THE STORY

Before you go, let’s discuss one last thing. The moral of the story here isn’t that “we have 7 great ideas” to keep you moving. Instead, the moral is that you have everything you need to stay active at home, it’s just a matter of looking for it. So take a moment, get creative and see how many different ways you can move more at home!