7 Ways to Put Natural Movement Back Into Your Day  

When you hear the words physical activity, what comes to mind?

A treadmill?

A gym membership?

Thirty minutes of exercise?

Ten thousand steps?

A workout video you promised yourself you would start Monday?

Somewhere along the way, we began treating movement as a separate activity—something we have to carve out time to do.

But movement wasn't always something people had to schedule.

People walked to get where they needed to go. They carried things. They worked with their hands. They tended gardens. They bent, reached, lifted, swept, climbed, pushed, pulled, and moved simply because life required movement.

Modern convenience has changed much of that.

And I'm grateful for many of those conveniences.

I don't particularly want to give up my washing machine just to increase my physical activity.

Do you?

Probably not.

But perhaps the answer isn't abandoning modern convenience.

Perhaps it's recognizing where convenience has quietly removed movement from our lives—and intentionally putting some of it back.

Here are seven ways to do that without turning your entire day into a workout.

1. Stop Keeping Everything Within Reach  

Look around the place where you spend most of your day.

How many things can you reach without getting up?

Your phone.

Water.

Printer.

Notebook.

Remote control.

Snacks.

Everything is arranged for maximum convenience.

And normally, that's considered good organization.

But sometimes efficiency eliminates one of the simplest reasons we have to move:

We need something.

Try allowing a few frequently used things to live somewhere that requires you to get up.

That doesn't mean hiding your stapler on the other side of the house.

It simply means we don't necessarily need to organize our environments so that our bodies can remain in one position for hours.

Sometimes...

get up and get it.

That tiny inconvenience may actually be a gift.

2. Stop Trying to Make Everything One Trip  

I think most of us have done this.

You have eight grocery bags in the car.

And instead of making two trips...

you load every single bag onto your arms.

You have your purse hanging from one shoulder, keys dangling from one finger, something tucked underneath your arm...

and you're determined:

I am making ONE trip.

Why?

We do the same thing with laundry.

Things that need to go upstairs.

Items that need to be put away.

We consolidate our movements because we've been taught that efficiency is good.

And sometimes it absolutely is.

But every task doesn't have to be completed using the fewest possible steps.

Carry some of the groceries inside.

Then go back.

Take some of the laundry.

Come back for the rest.

Walk something to another room instead of waiting until you have five things going in that direction.

You're not exercising.

You're simply allowing ordinary life...

to require a little more movement again.

3. Rediscover the Floor  

This one may sound strange.

Spend some time...

on the floor.

If it's safe and comfortable for your body, try sitting on the floor occasionally while folding clothes, reading, organizing something, playing with children, or doing another suitable activity.

Why?

Because getting down...

and getting back up...

asks something of the body that sitting in a chair doesn't.

You bend.

You shift your weight.

You use your legs.

You use your core.

You balance.

You change positions.

And suddenly one ordinary activity involves much more of your body.

The floor isn't appropriate for everyone, particularly for people with mobility or balance limitations. But for those who can safely use it, floor-level living can reintroduce movements that chairs have largely removed from everyday life.

4. Reclaim the Moments When You're Waiting  

What do we do now...

when we have sixty seconds to spare?

We pull out the phone.

Waiting for something to heat?

Phone.

Someone puts us on hold?

Phone.

Waiting for someone else to get ready?

Sit down...

and phone.

Our technology hasn't only changed what we do during long stretches of time.

It has occupied...

the little spaces too.

Try occasionally leaving those spaces empty.

If you're waiting in the kitchen, move around the kitchen.

If you're talking on the telephone, you don't necessarily have to sit.

If you're waiting for someone at home, wander outside for a moment.

You don't have to turn waiting into a miniature workout.

No jumping jacks beside the microwave required.

Just notice the opportunity:

I don't have to sit while I wait.

5. Occasionally Choose the Less-Automated Way  

No.

I'm still not giving up the washing machine.

Let's establish that right now.

But there are some tasks where doing things ourselves can give us both movement and accomplishment.

Sweep the porch.

Wash the car.

Tend the garden.

Water plants.

Do some yard work.

Knead something by hand.

Hang clothes occasionally if that's available to you.

Clean something yourself instead of automatically choosing the option that requires the least physical effort.

This is something our ancestors understood naturally.

Work and movement weren't always separate activities.

You didn't necessarily finish your work...

and then go exercise.

The work required movement.

We don't need to recreate the hardships of previous generations.

But we can recover some of the movement that disappeared when machines began doing almost everything for us.

6. Let Something You Already Do Remind You to Move  

Sometimes the problem with developing a new habit...

is that we've created one more thing...

we have to remember.

Set another alarm.

Download another app.

Create another schedule.

Check another box.

Instead, use something that already happens in your day as a natural cue to change position.

Maybe it's finishing a work block.

Ending a phone call.

Completing a chapter.

Finishing a meal.

Completing a task on the computer.

The specific cue doesn't matter nearly as much as the association:

This part of my day has ended. Now my body changes position.

Stand.

Move.

Then continue with your day.

Instead of creating another program to manage...

movement becomes woven into the rhythm you already have.

7. Remember That Movement Can Be Fun  

This may be the one we've forgotten most.

Children rarely need someone to explain to them...

that movement is exercise.

They run...

because running is fun.

They chase each other.

Jump.

Dance.

Climb.

Throw things.

Kick things.

Play.

And then somewhere in adulthood...

movement becomes...

a health obligation.

We put on workout clothes.

Start the timer.

Count repetitions.

Watch calories.

Track performance.

And something that once brought joy...

starts feeling like another assignment.

So recover movement for pleasure.

Dance around your house.

Play outside with your children or grandchildren.

Throw a ball.

Fly a kite.

Walk somewhere beautiful.

Tend flowers.

Play with the dog.

Put on music while you're doing housework.

Do something that makes you forget you're supposedly “exercising.”

Because movement doesn't have to feel like punishment to benefit the body.

Sometimes movement can simply be joy.

Choose What Works for You  

You don't have to do all seven.

And I'm not going to tell you to choose only one either.

Maybe one fits your life.

Maybe three do.

Maybe you read this and think:

“I could do every one of these.”

Wonderful.

Choose what works for you.

This isn't another seven-point health law.

It isn't a challenge.

And there isn't a prize for checking every box.

The goal is simply to look at your own life and ask:

Where has convenience removed movement that I could naturally put back?

Your answer may look completely different from someone else's.

That's okay.

Movement Was Once Simply Life  

In this week's episode of Law & Order, “What Happens When We Stop Moving? The Body Was Never Designed to Be Still,” we went all the way back to Eden.

Genesis 2:15 tells us:

“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” — KJV

Adam didn't have an exercise program.

He had...

a life that required him to use his body.

And perhaps that's something worth recovering.

Not the hardship.

Not the backbreaking labor.

Not a rejection of every modern convenience.

But the movement.

Movement while working.

Movement while playing.

Movement while accomplishing ordinary tasks.

Movement woven back into life.

Because your body wasn't created simply to carry your brain from one chair to another.

It was created...

to participate.

To work.

To serve.

To experience.

To move.

So perhaps we can stop asking only:

“When am I going to find time to exercise?”

And begin asking another question:

“Where can movement naturally become part of my life again?”

Then choose what works for you.

Not because you hate your body.

Not because you're punishing it.

Not because you're chasing a number on the scale.

But because movement is a gift.

And while you have that gift use it.

Keep moving.

And as always keep walking with the One who thought of everything.