http://www.markonefitness.co.uk http://www.personaltrainerdartford.com Mark Broadbent is a Personal Trainer in the Dartford area who can assist you with achieving all of your health and fitness goals, from weight loss to toning. Mark also runs outdoor Fitness Bootcamps every week where you can workout using kettlebells, bodyweight, freeweights, sandbags and other non gym based exercises. If you're serious about achieving your fitness goals, give Mark a call for a FREE consultation.

Moving Throughout The Day

After a conversation with a client the other day, I've decided to make this post short and sweet and explain the importance of keeping your body moving throughout the day.Lots of common problems nowadays tend to be caused by a lack of movement.Unless you remember an exact time when you got an injury, or know how it came about (i.e. you fell over/twisted an ankle etc.), chances are it's been a long time coming.Unfortunately, due to modern society, most people spend in excess of 8 hours a day sitting down. They get up, sit and eat breakfast, sit on the train/bus or in the car to get to work, often sit at a desk all day, then drive/bus/train home to sit down for dinner and for a bit of TV.Obviously there are exceptions, but most people (even the busiest mums) find time to watch a bit of TV.Well spending this much time seated, means a lot of your muscles are either pulled taught, or left on slack.Your body doesn't like slack muscles, so if they're like it for enough of the time it will start to "wind them in", pulling them tight (such as your hip flexors when seated).Then, when you stand up straight, these tight muscles get pulled tighter, so to avoid ripping them, they'll pull your joints with them to avoid being stretched.Again, using the hip flexors as an example, this means these muscles will literally pull your pelvis forward, causing a tilted pelvis, leading to an increased lumbar arch and general poor posture.Mix this with all of the other muscles that get tightened due to prolonged periods of sitting down and you've got some major postural problems!So how can you avoid/counter this?Well the best way to correct these muscle imbalances is with a personalised correctional exercise programme consisting of strengthening exercises for the weaker, stretched muscles, and stretching exercises for the tight muscles, as well as some mobility exercises to keep the joints moving and healthy.But that's for another time - consult with your local fitness expert if you're interested in getting a programme written.For now, you can start to reverse these effects, or at least prevent them from getting any worse by performing some simple exercises throughout the day - avoiding sitting without moving for long periods of time.The added bonus of this is that it will give your brain a bit of a rest from work too, meaning you'll come back refreshed and able to work better anyway.So,Step 1Get yourself a timer, either use a kitchen timer, a watch with a countdown timer, or go to http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ and get their free countdown timer which you can leave running on your computer while you work. (see below)Step 2Set the timer to 50 minutes. You can set it to whatever time you want, but 50 minutes seems to be the best as it's long enough to get a good portion of work done uninterrupted, but you won't be sat still for too long.Step 3When the timer goes off after 50 minutes, get up out of your seat and do something!This could be something as simple as a few full body exercises (Squats, lunges, twists and bends), some stretches for the muscles that are tight, or even just spending 5 minutes walking around the office.If you can do this consistently every hour, every day, you will be keeping your body moving and prevent further imbalances occurring or getting worse.I'll be posting some short video clips of exercises you can do in these "mini-breaks" here over the next few days so be sure to check back or bookmark http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkOneFitness and check it periodically.Again, if you want to use the free online stopwatch like the one below click the link to download it now.Get a Stopwatch like this or make your own! At: Online Stopwatch

Mark s Blog

For free health and fitness information visit my blog at http://markonefitness.blogspot.com

Specialist Services

Weight Loss Specialist Exercise for Lower Back Pain Kettlebell Training Clubbell Training Posture correction and Kinetic Chain Assessment

Trade Bodies / Associations

REPs Level 3 Registered Trainer

Trading Since

2004