How Movement Changed My Life

MOVEMENT: A LIFESTYLE.

"You’ll only ever live in two places; the body & the mind." 

Yet, we spend so much of our lives disconnected from them both. 
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I spent just over 2 years working 8-5 office jobs.

I went from being a student-athlete - playing football daily, frequently cycling around the city, always on the move - to being tied to a desk for 8 hours a day.

Naturally, the inactivity took its toll on me - both mentally & physically. My body felt tight & restricted, my energy levels were low, & I began losing interest in the things that I cared about. 

I knew something needed to change. So, one week I spontaneously decided to try out a local yoga class. It was just the awakening that I needed. 

The first class was tough. I felt immobile, out of sync, & weak. It was a real eye-opener; there I was, an in-shape, athletic, strong young man, but I was & truly humbled by that 90 minute yoga class. 

Off the back of that first class, I realised I needed to switch things up. I started paying greater attention to how my body felt on a daily basis & began practicing some of the movements we practiced in class in my own time. 

Over the course of 2-3 months, the & started to become keen to move towards more advanced movements & new ways to challenge my body.​

It was during this period that I came across mobility training. This was a real game-changer.

I spent time online searching for new movements & ways to challenge myself. Each one exposed an untapped weakness in my body & provided me with feedback on where I ought to direct my attention​

What began as a pursuit of finding ways to improve how my body felt, has since developed deeper significance in my lifestyle. Through practicing mobility & generally moving more throughout the day, I feel less stressed, more creative, & increasingly energised.

Towards the back end of 2019, I came to the realisation that to maintain these positive change & this connection with my body, my lifestyle needed to change - I needed to step away from the desk job environment.

So, I handed in my notice at work. I took the necessary steps to dedicate my full focus towards becoming a personal trainer & furthering my understanding of health. 

Simply getting in touch with my body through movement, allowed the development of new passions & a complete shift in what I value in my lifestyle.

​Movement truly was the trigger that changed the course of my life. 

THE MODERN DAY PROBLEM.

With so much of our time nowadays spent sat down in chairs, it’s no surprise that so many of us carry some form of muscular or joint injury/discomfort.

We have these aches & pains, but we can often become somewhat desensitised to the issues, as we lack connection with our body & fail to recognise how it’s supposed to feel. These issues can go unnoticed, for years sometimes, worsening & appearing as a bigger issue down the line.

As much as it's ingrained into our society these days, human beings were not designed to spend so much of our lives sat down. Not to turn this into a history lesson, but think of our ancestors & how they existed. Survival required continuous movement & activity. 

When we move less we expend fewer calories, find ourselves low on energy, & are going to find our cognitive ability lessens. All of this will lead to weight gain, and subpar physical & mental performance. 

It's so important to integrate an element of movement into our lifestyle. That doesn't mean you have to start doing anything crazy. Going on daily walks is a place to start. If you work at a desk, switch up your seating position throughout the day - sit on the floor for a bit. Take frequent short breaks just to move your body.

If you really feeling committed to improvement, take steps to develop a daily practice of mobility drills - I’ve got some good exercises to get started with over on my instagram.

I’m not saying you need to develop a habitual practice of mobility. Although there’s no harm in doing so. But, given the modern circumstances, movement ought to be a part of all of our daily lives.