Six ways to move more

Easy ways to be more active. Photo: Getty Images.

Turns out we should be standing up more, guys. The average Aussie adult sits for nine hours a day, according to the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute.

This can affect everything from heart health to our risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is why On Your Feet Australia Day encourages us to quit the sit and give up chairs. Inspired? Time to add more movement to your waking hours.

Make over meetings
Facebook offers standing desks to employees (while IKEA sells a $69 standing laptop station for your home work space, FYI). Now, take this further with walk-and-talk meetings – something US author and business game-changer Nilofer Merchant swears by.

She gave a TED talk, saying “Instead of going to coffee meetings or fluorescent-lit conference room meetings, I ask people to go on a walking meeting, to the tune of 20 to 30 miles a week. It’s changed my life.”

Get creative outside
If a work task doesn’t need a computer, take a pen and pad to the park. You get walking time, plus being around nature and away from tech can help creativity, according to University of Kansas research.

Related: What not to do before your workout

Exercise at your desk
Example: seated calf raises where you stay sitting and rise up onto your toes, holding for two seconds. Waiting for the kettle to boil? “Try a side twist – stand with your feet shoulder width apart and twist your upper body slowly until you feel a stretch,” says Jetts personal trainer Fiona Douglas. When the colleague coast is clear, go for desk push-ups.

Take the ad break challenge
You have three minutes before NCIS comes back on, so see if you can finish the washing up or change your bedding in that time.

No chores? Do a circuit of push ups, squats, mountain climbers, lunges, bicycles, glute kick-backs (on all-fours, lift and push one of your feet backwards, flex your butt with your leg fully extended behind you, then return to start and repeat with other leg) and supermans (again on all-fours, stretch out your right leg and opposite arm, hold for 20 secs, return to start and repeat with opposite limbs).

“Your goal is to finish one round,” says Douglas. “Move with control but alternate quickly between exercises, doing each for 20 seconds with a 10-second rest.”

Related: Natural ways to fight the flu

Make small changes
Choose a parking space that’s further away, take the stairs, get off a bus stop earlier, do the coffee run… you get the idea. Walking for just two minutes each hour can make a real difference, say Uni of Utah scientists.

Track your movement
Love some healthy self-competition? Set step targets using a pedometer or add the Jawbone UP3 to your wish list. It’s a WH fave and tracks everything from daily exercise to heart health. Jaw-some.