Five steps towards making it easier to learn the habit of moving more often and more regularly.

When do you need to start to do what you need to do and how easy will it be?

Basically the idea is first to move, then move more often and then move regularly and frequently. As you incorporate this into everyday life, even if you set an initial goal of just 2 weeks for each of the steps below, the good news is that this could be long enough for it to become a habit.

It is important to PLAN exactly what you are going to do and then focus on when you are going to carry out the action(s) and not at this stage what you are trying to achieve by doing it/them. In other words for each day of those 2 weeks behave as if you are that (mobile) person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Why should you make the effort? The evidence is that as you increase your level of physical activity you reduce the risk of chronic disease and rate of functional decline and improve all aspects of your mental well-being and mood. Even if you are disabled, for example due to carrying excess weight or suffering from chronic arthritis, or both, it is strongly recommended that you carry out some form of physical activity every day.

I recommend you try each of these steps for at least 2 weeks. They are not mutually exclusive. For example reducing the amount of time you are sedentary will result in you being more active in a number of ways, exercise or non-exercise. It has been shown that involving other people in your goals enhances the odds of being successful in the longer term. So consider how each of these activities could also include an enhanced degree of social ‘mobility’ or involving/joining in with others.

Step I. Reduce the amount of uninterrupted or prolonged periods of sedentary activity each day even if you don’t feel like it (see 10 tips for reducing Sedentary Time).

Step 2. Increase the amount of non-exercise physical activity – focus on doing something productive every day. I suggest before you start the first week write down a list of jobs in or outside your home. This could literally be anything that involves you in physically moving, lifting, bending, laughing, achieving and even enjoying it. Do this for the second week.

Step 3. Introduce a small amount of regular exercise which you plan to enjoy (see below), and gradually increase this. Focus on doing this every day even if, in the beginning, it is only for five minutes and even if you don’t feel like it. Ask yourself: What would I be doing more of each week if I was learning to enjoy that activity?

Step 4. Add in activities, not necessarily exercise, which improve balance, coordination and muscle strength (see below under ‘Muscle strengthening’). Focus on the activity you have chosen and not at this stage on what you might gain.

Step 5. Increase the amount of your social interaction. See if you can combine this with being more active, for example group exercise activities. Focus on taking the action to make this happen.

What types of activity? Pick from a wide range of activities which you hope to enjoy. Focus on the key actions or behaviours you want to learn, and not at this stage on what you are trying to achieve. I have listed some examples below. For further information I suggest the NHS Choices site : Exercises for older people

Examples:

Brisk walking for leisure or for other routines such as getting to and from work or going to the local shops.
Recreational activities such as dance, gardening, swimming, cycling, moderate intensity sport or exercise classes.
Muscle strengthening: gardening, carrying shopping, badminton, tennis, stair climbing, hill walking, cycling and dance.
Balance: Tai Chi and dance or specific balance programs

The aims of following the 5 steps listed above are to:

Reduce sedentary time.
Improve balance and coordination.
Strengthen muscles which may have become weak or wasted due to inactivity.

How to build the amount gradually and make it a habit: If you are coming from a position of being very inactive, and/or carry some limiting factor or disability, then 5 or 10 minute periods of movement, carried out frequently enough each day, with a longer term goal of increasing the amount gradually, will be of significant benefit. Even 5 minutes going up and then down steps or stairs can produce positive effects on strength and balance. The total amount of activity, even if it is less than 150 minutes a week, is more important than the specific types of activity.

When you have established the habit of being more active then ideally you can choose to reset your goals perhaps aiming for about 150 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise each week. ‘Moderately vigorous’ exercise will usually be associated with an awareness of breathing faster, the pulse rate being faster and feeling warmer. On hot or humid days you may sweat more.

If you want to remain independent, I suggest you make being more active a priority. If this becomes important enough your ability to organize and plan the steps and the discipline/will power required to do it will follow naturally.