Moving less is more common.

Moving more is rare.

As a species - we're moving less each day.

And reflecting on the past ten years, I've noticed a similar trend in my own life.

Ten years ago, my activity levels were extraordinarily high.

I played competitive soccer 3-5 days a week, averaging 3-4 hours of intense movement daily.

Yet, even without that, working from home and in my office has significantly sliced the movement I get each day.

It takes a conscious effort to move more.

But that's what is needed.

To combat the Law of Entropy - which states that everything in the universe moves to disorder and chaos - intentional action is necessary.

Without it?

Entropy sinks in.

And we all know how that panes out over multiple months or years...

Modern humans are more sedentary than ever before.

Being overweight, unhappy, and unhealthy are 'normal' occurrences in our present world.

Being a high achiever and sustaining high-performance levels is a mere fantasy when your health and body are out of order.

​A study was done on a sedentary lifestyle, and one of the key findings from this study was this:

One-third.

33% of the world population.

That's 17% away from 50% of the world.

This study was also done four years ago, in 2020.

I doubt this number improved during the recent world lockdown.

Americans, for example, average around 7.7 hours of sedentary behavior daily.

That's over 50% of their waking hours.

So, if you want to RAMP up your movement and create an ACTIVE lifestyle vs a degenerative lifestyle, here are five habits to reverse the damage of moving less:

#1 Walk 5 minutes every hour

For many of us - sitting is an unavoidable reality.

While there are ways to combat sitting, which I've covered in prior letters, including standing more and using a standing desk, sometimes we need to sit.

Walking 5 minutes every hour allows you to reverse the damage done.

Movement, in general, opens up our energy.

Stagnant energy, or Qi (from the Eastern perspective), is the root cause of many modern-day diseases we're plagued with.

Move more.

Five minutes an hour is how you repay your body for the energetic debt you accumulate.

All debts need to be paid back.

Your body keeps a record of everything.

#2 Increase your steps to a minimum of 8,000-10,000 per day

In tandem with habit #1 is increasing your steps.

The average sedentary human averages between 3,000-5,000 steps per day.

While 8,000-10,000 may seem like a lot (or minor, depending on activity levels), more steps generally are a solid way to reverse the damage of a sedentary lifestyle.

The days when I have the MOST energy?

Those are directly correlated when I have the highest steps and step count.

Increase your steps incrementally each week to allow your body time to acclimate.

Then, start to create new standards for your health.

#3 Stand 50-75% of your day

I've shared this before, but standing more is a prerequisite for modern living.

We can ALL benefit from standing more.

Energy blockages commonly stem from sitting too long and too frequently.

Our body was designed to live and move in an upright position.

This is why we don't all look like hunchbacks and have 'seated designed bodies.'

Yet, the modern human is rapidly moving closer to the hunchback model.

Standing more will be your crucial habit if you want to avoid looking like Quasimodo.

Use a standing desk.

Take meetings standing (98% of my meetings, 1:1 coaching sessions, and group training classes are ALL done standing).

Write standing (which I'm doing as I write this now).

There's a dozen and a half ways to stand more often.

Choose ONE and commit to it for the next 21 days.

Then, layer in the next habit.

Little by little, you can cross a mountain.

#4 Take 2-3 walks daily

Habit #4 pairs nicely with #2.

Increasing your steps goes nicely with daily walks.

Most of us are addicted and live our lives by dopamine.

Dopamine is the 'feel good' chemical that's released when we do something pleasurable (eating junk food, watching TV, having sex, reading, getting a compliment, walking, etc).

There are a lot of things that release dopamine.

Many of them are negative.

But quite a few are positive.

Walking is one habit that releases dopamine after 5-7 minutes.

There hasn't been ONE time in my life where walking has NOT made me feel better.

It's an understatement to say that I love walking.

Walking has saved my life in some ways,

It's helped me regain perspective, clarity of mind, and presence.

Walking in nature barefoot?

This might be the holy grail of walking.

But walking is a phenomenal way to counteract the damage done by a sedentary lifestyle.

Walk, walk, walk.

And smile when you walk - that helps even more.

#5 Lift weights 3-4x weekly

Without a challenge, your body has no reason to change.

At all.

Lifting weights is a challenge to your body.

A signal to change.

Lifting heavy weights and putting them down is one of the best ways to regain health.

The benefits range from increased bone density, improved body composition, higher confidence, and increased strength, plus many other high-level health benefits.

I've written and spoken a LOT about strength training in the past, so I'll be concise here.

Lifting weights is the equivalent of taking a miracle drug for your body.

The benefits are unrivaled, and it's the ONE habit I plan on doing for the rest of my life.

And as we age, we start to atrophy (lose muscle mass and strength) after 30.

Strength training is even more critical if you're like me and you're after 30.

It reverses, heals, and even rebuilds connective tissue, lean muscle, and bone density when all hope is lost.

It's the one habit you'll want to keep close by no matter HOW you use it (gym, home gym, travel gym, etc).

Keep lifting and challenging yourself each day.

Focus on ONE of these habits.

Stay consistent.

And share this list with a friend or family member (who might find this helpful).

Let's start this year off in the most robust health & body.

You got this.

- Gabriel