Fit 2 Inspire : Why are we sitting around so much?

Here's how many of our typical days as a working woman or even stay at home mom goes:

Morning - Wake up, shower, eat, drive to work or drive kids to school
8 - 10 am - Sit at a desk at work (or sit on the couch at home)
10-10:15 am - Walk to the bathroom and back to desk
10:15 - 12:00 pm - Sit at desk some more
12:00 - 1:00 pm - Walk to the breakroom, or drive home and sit for lunch
1:00 - 3:00 pm - Sit at desk some more
3:00 - 3:15 pm - Walk to bathroom
3:15 - 5:00 pm - Sit some more at work or sitting in the car driving to pick up kids, sitting at their after-school activities
5:00 - 6:00 pm - Make and eat dinner
6:00 - 10 PM - Sit around at home and watch TV

This is just an example, but it does highlight how many of us do a whole lot of sitting around. Unless we have a certain career that involves a lot of movement, many of us sit at a desk or on our couch for a large portion of our day.

Too much sitting can be linked to cardiovascular disease, Type 2 Diabetes, obesity and even cancers. The good news is that there is also a mountain of evidence that shows injecting short activities in your day can have a big impact on improving your health.

As a Tabata Bootcamp trainer, we are taught about doing "Metabolic Makeovers" with our clients.

So here are some ideas to inject some movement into your day:

Always do your 6 minute tabata workout or other quick workout to start your morning.
Park as far away from the door as possible at work, grocery store, etc. If you live close enough and the weather is nice, try walking to run your errands. I try to always walk to my Redbox to return movies. I walk my daughter to daycare if the weather is decent.
If you work at a desk, set your outlook alarm every 30 minutes to remind you to get up. Walk around. Stretch.
Every time you answer your phone stand up and pace by your desk. This forces you to get out of your chair.
Increase your water intake. This will ensure you have to get up to go to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes.
If you have an hour long lunch, try eating for 20 minutes, walking the remainder 30-40 minutes. Take your ipod with a book on tape or your favorite music, or take a coworker with you!
On the hour at work or at home, do 10 pushups or tricep dips.
If your kids have activities like soccer, band practice, dance class, etc., don't sit while they are doing their activity. If you can walk around the field, building, parking lot, etc. while you wait.
After you eat dinner, make everyone in the whole family go for a quick walk around the neighborhood. If it's getting dark too soon, do the walk before dinner.
Instead of watching TV just sitting, try doing a TV workout - during every commercial do jumping jacks, jog in place, etc.