The Cost of Being Sedentary

There’s an invisible price many are paying unknowingly. It’s something that slowly infiltrates your life. It’s not flashy and doesn’t cause a scene when it arrives, but you’ll know as soon as it’s latched onto you.

You’ll start to notice it in seemingly small ways. Things just seem to be a little harder than they used to be. I’m not talking about not being able to do things you could do at age 20 now at age 50. It’s more subtle than that. It’s not being able to do the things you want to do right now.

Walking for long periods of time. Picking up the grandkids. Taking trips. Playing sports like golf, pickle ball, or tennis. Putting on a pair of pants without losing your balance. These seemingly small actions that actually greatly enhance life are being lost, not by force, but by choice.

It’s in the choices we see as arbitrary that are made every day that, in actuality, have a massive impact. It’s allowing emotions to dictate habits. Meaning, if I don’t feel like going for a walk, doing an exercise class, or simply getting off the couch, then I don’t have to.

While this may seem like a non-issue at the time, when we continue to allow feelings to take over, there can be massive repercussions. Most often, those look like low energy, muscle loss, and at worst, falling, injury, and depression.

Great news… the cure is simpler than you think!

It’s in the small yet consistent habits that can become part of the everyday routine. While it may not be realistic for you to exercise for an hour each day, 15 minutes is doable. Maybe you don’t have access to a gym with a lot of equipment. A few bands and free weights will work perfectly! Grabbing a coffee at the shop down the street? Walk there! Watching TV for a bit? No problem, stand up every 45 minutes and do 20 air squats.

Don’t overwhelm yourself with a massive goal. Sure, everyone wants to lose weight, gain muscle, and feel better. But if you only think about the goal rather than the shifts you’re going to make to get there, then you may as well not set a goal at all.

The best part?

When you start committing to these habit shifts, they become second nature.

That’s when you know it’s working. You feel better, look better, and are more capable of doing the things you love. Those are the rewards you deserve to reap when you decide to get up and move.