We all want to feel good in our bodies. But so many of us spend our days with achy backs, dried-out eyes and brain fog from too much screen time. What can we do to shake up our sedentary lifestyles?
On our Body Electric podcast series and newsletter, we’ve been exploring how we can reclaim our bodies from our technology. We even conducted a study with Columbia University Medical Center researchers and more than 20,000 listeners in October 2023.
Long story short: we found that the more people moved, the better they felt — less fatigue, better concentration.
We wanted to share some of the best tips our listeners and study participants have shared to help keep you moving.
How to build in movement breaks into your day
🏃 Choose a movement cadence. Be realistic!
What amount of movement can you build into your day? Set a reasonable goal — but try to push yourself. The optimal amount is walking for 5 minutes every 30 minutes, but if that doesn’t feel feasible with your schedule, try one of these options:
- Moving for 5 minutes every hour
- Moving for 5 minutes every two hours
- If walking isn’t an option, chair-based exercises are a good alternative. As long as you’re moving, it counts.
⏲️ Decide on — and stick to — a strategy to remember to take your breaks
Many people found it helpful to set a timer to remind them to get up and walk. Others simply listened to the cues of their body (feeling stiff, uncomfortable, fidgety) and moved based on that. Some found that linking a break to a task worked best: for example, after every Zoom session, one listener would play with her dog.
Participant Dana Lopez Maile found an effective strategy:
“I time my work in between the breaks,” she told us. “So I look at my timer and say, ‘OK, 16 minutes until another break, let me make that call after the break and I’ll just whip out an email right now.’ ”
Managing her work so it fit around her breaks as opposed to the other way around helped her succeed.
😊💃 Discover which movement works best for you
Columbia researcher Keith Diaz says these breaks do not need to be vigorous exercise, but you can’t just stand still.
- A slow walk counts – 2 miles per hour
- March in place
- Get some chores done around the house
- Take a mini dance break!
🔋 Observe yourself. And don’t let perfection be the enemy of movement
Check-in with your body after these movement breaks. Do you feel less drained? More alert?
Keeping a running tally of breaks motivated a lot of listeners and helped them compare their moods and energy level to the number of breaks they took. Others tracked their observations, as well as any hurdles, in a diary or calendar.
And remind yourself: If you miss some breaks, that’s ok! Some movement is always better than none.
👯 Recruit someone to join you
Many listeners reported receiving a huge boost from friends, family, and coworkers who were in it together. Having people hold you accountable and give you permission to take breaks and move — especially at work — is an important step toward building a sustainable movement routine into your daily life.
📬 Share your progress
Sign up for our Body Electric newsletter! It’s a community where we connect with our followers and share tips, stories and groundbreaking research on everything from the science of how screens affect our breathing to listeners’ creative hacks for building movement into their busy days.
Send us a voice memo or email us at BodyElectric@npr.org to let us know how it goes! Tell us your triumphs and pitfalls. You can also message me on Instagram @ManoushZ.
Download this doc to track your progress.
Put the Body Electric screensaver on your phone as a visual reminder to keep moving.
Read lead researcher, Keith Diaz, and my op-ed about the future of movement for the LA Times.
Check out this video of my 2-day experience at the Columbia University exercise lab.
