Creating a Healthier Weekly Routine Without Major Changes
You do not need new furniture, a new routine or an hour a day to make your week kinder to your body. Small adjustments to how your days are planned, started and finished tend to add up to more than people expect.
Monday's article, Is It Time to Get That Ache Looked At?, looked at the signs that an ache needs a professional opinion and what an assessment involves. If you have not read it yet, it is worth reading first. Today's article turns that into practice, with realistic ways to shape your week so that aches are less likely to build in the first place.
This applies whether your long spells of sitting come from paid work, volunteering, knitting, painting, sewing, jigsaws or a good book. The body does not mind what is keeping you still. It notices how long for.
Look at the Week Not Just the Day
Earlier this month we looked at short breaks, and Five Simple Ways to Add More Movement Into Your Working Day has plenty of ideas for fitting them in. Just as much depends on how the week as a whole is arranged.
Spread Your Longest Sitting Days
Where you have a choice, avoid putting your most sedentary days back to back. A day finishing a quilt, catching up on paperwork or working through a long report sits more comfortably between days that involve walking, gardening, shopping or seeing people.
Change Where You Sit for Different Activities
If you tend to do everything from one chair, spread your activities around the house. Read in one chair, knit or sew in another, and do puzzles or paperwork at the kitchen table or standing at the worktop. Each move brings a change of position with it.
Plan Ahead for Busy Weeks
When a demanding week is coming, whether a work deadline, a craft fair, visitors or looking after grandchildren, decide in advance which habits you will keep, even in a smaller form. A ten-minute walk is far easier to protect when it is already in the diary.
Give Your Day a Beginning and an End
Start With a Short Walk
Going out to work builds in some movement without anyone planning it: the walk to the car or the bus, the stairs at the other end. When that structure goes, through retirement, working from home or simply a quieter season of life, much of that movement goes with it.
A five or ten-minute walk before you settle into the day gives your body a chance to warm up and marks the start of the morning. Down the lane, along the seafront or simply to the end of the road and back all count.
Let Your Body Settle After a Car Journey
A drive is more sitting on top of whatever sitting comes next. After a journey into town or to see family, take a couple of minutes on your feet before settling into a chair.
Close Long Sessions Deliberately
When you finish a stretch of work or put down a project, do something physical before you sit again, whether that is a walk, half an hour in the garden or preparing a meal. It gives your body a change after a long sit and helps your mind switch off, which matters for how well you sleep.
Ease the Tension That Builds With Concentration
Absorbing tasks, whether a spreadsheet, a fine piece of embroidery or the last corner of a painting, tend to draw the shoulders up and the head forwards without us noticing. A few simple habits help:
check every so often whether your shoulders have crept up towards your ears, and let them drop as you breathe out
look up from close work regularly and focus on something across the room or out of the window
rest your hands in your lap for a few breaths between rows, stitches or brushstrokes
during stressful weeks, keep evening screen time lighter so sleep has a better chance of doing its work
A Five-Minute Weekly Review
At the end of each week, take five minutes to jot down:
which days felt most comfortable, and which felt least comfortable
what was different about them, such as the activities, how long you sat or how often you moved
one thing you will change next week
Over a month, this builds a clear picture of what your body copes with well and what it does not. It is also exactly the kind of record that makes an assessment more useful, if you do decide to seek one.
For more on looking after yourself through long spells of sitting, our cornerstone guide, The Complete Guide to Desk Health: Moving More, Sitting Better and Protecting Your Body, brings the whole month together.
Apollo Insight
Many people expect retirement or working from home to be easier on the body, and in clinic we often find the reverse. Without a journey to make, stairs to climb or a reason to leave the house, a day can involve far less movement than it seems, even when it feels busy. If your aches began or worsened after a change like this, the movement that used to happen around the edges of the day is often the first place to look.
This Week's Movement Tip
Sit towards the front of a firm chair with your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, and your hands resting on your thighs. As you breathe out, slowly curl your spine forwards: let your chin drop towards your chest and your upper back round, sliding your hands a little way towards your knees. Pause for a moment. As you breathe in, reverse the movement, sitting up through your spine and gently lifting your chest, with your eyes looking straight ahead rather than up at the ceiling. Move slowly and only as far as is comfortable. Five slow repetitions is plenty, once mid-morning and once mid-afternoon. It should feel like your spine loosening gradually from top to bottom, with no pinching at any point.
Before starting any new exercise programme, please consult your healthcare professional if you have any medical conditions, concerns or existing injuries. If you experience pain or worsening symptoms whilst exercising, stop and seek appropriate medical advice.
How Can Apollo Help Make Your Week Easier?
If stress, sleep or a change in routine are a large part of what your body is carrying, our Lifestyle & Wellbeing service can help you look at the wider picture and make changes that last. Where pain is persisting despite small changes like these, Osteopathy can assess what is going on and help you move more comfortably again. Explore our services or get in touch to talk through where to start.
How Apollo Health Collective Supports Healthy Ageing
Healthy ageing is about understanding your body, looking after it well and having the right support when you need it.
At Apollo Health Collective, we help people stay active, capable and independent through personalised, evidence-informed care. Our integrated approach brings together different areas of expertise to support movement, recovery and long-term wellbeing.
Our Sheringham clinic offers Osteopathy, Sports Therapy, Sports Massage, Clinical Exercise & Rehabilitation, Reformer Pilates, Podiatry, Biomechanics, and Lifestyle & Wellbeing services. We also offer Osteopathy appointments in Norwich and Coltishall.
Whether you are recovering from an injury, managing ongoing concerns, looking to improve your movement or simply investing in your future health, our team is here to support you.
