Surrounding yourself with other people who also want to be more active will help you achieve your goals. Photo / Supplied
Surrounding yourself with other people who also want to be more active will help you achieve your goals. Photo / Supplied
As you read this, how long have you been sitting in the same spot? Too many of us spend the entire day in a sedentary position - often at a desk - barely moving at all.
But fitting movement in to our days needs to be prioritised, and it needs to become the norm in order to be a truly healthy person.
In this week's episode of Take Life Back, Stacey Morrison learns about the importance of getting physical activity back into your life.
She speaks to former Olympic swimmer and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Moss Burmester, to get his tips for fitting more activity into your day.
Burmester shares that when he stopped competitive swimming he quickly discovered the effects of an inactive lifestyle.
We're often guilty of having an all or nothing approach. Burmester says while we should push ourselves we don't need to go to the extent of living and breathing the activity. Different things can be seen as accomplishments for different people.
Setting challenges for ourselves is extremely important. As Burmester explains, knowing you've had to work for it and you deserve the results brings a lot of satisfaction - and you can be really proud of yourself.
"The same principles that apply to me at the very high-end level are no different for anyone with regards to what they're going after," says Burmester. "It's still the same fundamentals."
You may think it will be too much of a battle, but Burmester shares six easy ways to focus on getting active.
His tips will help you get out the door, achieve goals and realise the positive effects movement has on various aspects of your life.
1. Get a coach
"They know what they're doing, they can help you, they can assure you you're working on the right stuff in relation to what you're trying to achieve," says Burmester.
2. Find your drive
Be driven by what's best for you and what's your best, instead of wanting to be "the best".
"It doesn't matter what your goal is, but it's the idea of what works for you and what's your goal."
He explains that people are often scared of beginning, and scared of what people could think of them if they don't achieve their goals.
"It's funny 'cause people believe you fear failure, but it's actually (that) people fear judgement."
Don't let this fear overwhelm you, he says. "If you never get off the couch and give it a go, you won't know."
3. Surround yourself with healthy people
Much like other areas of self-improvement, it's important to consider how the people around you are behaving and impacting your efforts.
He highlights the importance of making moving "normal": "It's got to become a normal view, like a culture shift."
Get moving with people who have similar ideals and goals. It's always easier to do it when you've got supportive people around who are going through it alongside you, says Burmester.
"Join a running club or join the kayak club and get people at your workplace out there. Make it a regular thing and you'll really feed of each other and keep each other up."
Being active holistically has a massive impact. Burmester explains if everyone around you is also exercising, dynamics will change for the better.
If you don't know where to start, set a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, Time-based) goal.
"That's the key basis behind trying to set a goal that works."
5. Recover
Listen to your body and work out what you actually need before you go and do the next training session.
6. Eat well, sleep well
As you ramp your fitness efforts, it's important to ask yourself how well you're eating and sleeping, too.
Burmester emphasises we won't perform our best if any of these things are out of whack. "[movement is] holistically connected to how you sleep, and then eating becomes important too."
Remember, you can do those activities with your kids or with your parents. Time with your family and friends in a healthy condition is hugely important and movement is benefical for all.
