Activity is a key component of health for any human being – young and old, in sickness and in health, and wherever you may be in the world. With this in mind Physiopedia has started a new campaign to ask the world to “just keep moving” and we would love it if you would get involved.
Vidya Acharya is a valued Physiopedia volunteer and has kindly taken time to share what #justkeepmoving means to them. Take it away Vidya!
“To me, if life boils down to one thing, it’s movement. To live is to keep moving” – Jerry Seinfeld.
Exercise is the best way to stay fit. The #justkeepmoving campaign motivated me to reflect on my daily quota of physical activity. The World Health Organisation recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week to achieve the health benefits. Many reach the fitness target by – joining a gym or going out for regular walks or playing a sport. What we forget is, aside from the actual ‘work out’ time, we do have enough time in a day, which can be engaged in ‘mindful and purposeful’ movements.
Apart from how many times we move; how we move throughout the day also impacts our fitness levels. I realised this when I started learning piano last year. One might think “what piano has to do with keeping physical fitness?”. I observed while playing the piano; apart from excellent eye-hand coordination, perfect positioning of head, torso, arms and feet is extremely important. An ideal sitting posture helps in playing right musical notes.
Although there is no movement, muscles are still working to maintain the posture. By becoming consciously aware of the body, even the act of sitting can be a training session for activating trunk muscles. So, whenever possible, remind yourself “to sit, stand, walk and move with an upright posture.”
In my opinion, if we pay attention to movement, every activity can be transformed in a way that can become therapeutic for the body. Household chores of cleaning, mopping, drying clothes, loading & unloading the dishwasher or answering a doorbell or playing with kids – all of these provide an opportunity to move more. Activities involving floor sitting, bending, squatting stretches muscles and improve joint mobility. I keep injecting small doses of movement into my routine, in addition to a physical exercise schedule.
So, we as physios need to encourage our patients to add more movement to their daily routine, as every movement can be viewed as an active form of exercise. Just keep moving and keep the focus on muscles performing the action.
How Can I Get Involved?
Over the past few few months the team at Physiopedia have been sharing their thoughts about what #justkeepmoving means to them and how they will be getting involved with the campaign. We would love it if you would join us, here are a few ideas:
- Share the #justkeepmoving idea with your patients, together you could set goals for keeping moving.
- Share the #justkeepmoving idea with your friends and family to optimise their health.
- Create a #justkeepmoving infographic or poster to share in your clinic or on social media.
- Promote activity by wearing #justkeepmoving on your clothing (we are setting up an online shop specifically for this purpose right now!)
- Design your own #justkeepmoving t-shirt, we’ll add it to the shop, donate the profits to Physiopedia and reward the most popular design, the more the merrier!
- Wear the #justkeepmoving race wear at the next race you enter, you could even fundraise for the #justkeepmovingcampaign via the Physiopedia Just Giving account.
- Set new goals to #justkeepmoving your personal and professional life forwards.
- Or simply send us an article to publish on Physiospot on what #justkeepmoving means to you.