The rate at which our society has evolved over the last couple of decades is pretty phenomenal.

We have created many technological advances that bring comfort and ease to our lives. We have used technology to eliminate many physical demands of our day-to-day life. We also created many jobs that have us stuck at a desk for hours at a time.

With these advancements, come many byproducts. Our bodies have evolved to move regularly. Coming from hunter-gatherer backgrounds; physical labor was a part of our day-to-day life. We stand on 2 feet and have the ability to walk for hours at a time, explosively jump, sprint, move through many planes of motion. These demands are simply not needed in our modern-day civilization but does that mean that our bodies no longer need this?

Our body is an amazing machine with many parts that have specific jobs.

Each system does its job contributing to the whole and makes up the human body. Our cardiovascular system is designed to pump oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body and once utilized, it is brought back to the heart to restore its properties, and repeats the cycle. The heart is a pump that if not taken care of leads to a whole host of problems. That’s one example of many systems in our body that takes a hit if we become sedentary. Our immune system, lymph system, our brains all get negatively affected by such a lifestyle.

If we live a sedentary lifestyle, our hip flexors become tight and overactive, limiting our range of motion in our hips. Our lower back loses its natural curvature, while our upper back gets an exaggerated curve. Our shoulders often become internally rotated, limiting our range of motion. We also adopt a forward head tilt, creating a strain in our spine.

Addressing the root problem is step one.

If you have a desk job you could invest in a standing desk. You could also simply just be conscious of your posture (perhaps setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to sit up straight). You could take 5 minutes here and there and work on hip and shoulder mobility.

Below are exercises that will help activate muscles that will be inactive with a sedentary lifestyle.

You will want to take time to work on mobility before performing these exercises. Do some self myofacial release to the hips, legs, thoracic, and shoulders with a foam roller and mobility ball. Then go into some dynamic stretches to gain range of motion and blood flow. After warming up and mobility work, perform these exercises. Make sure to be mindful during the movement with attention to the activation of each muscle. You can do each exercise for 4 sets with 12-16 reps each.

Bridges

Lay down flat on your back and bring your feet in close to your butt.

Put your focus on your butt and squeeze tight while lifting your hips. (Imagine a $100 bill in your butt cheeks and you are holding on to it for dear life). Bring your hips all the way up into hip extension squeezing your butt as tight as you can, hold for a few seconds, then release and repeat. You can increase the intensity by raising one leg, keeping it parallel to your hips as you move through the range of motion.

Y-T-W’s

Lay flat on your stomach beginning with your arms above your head.

With your body and arms, it should make a Y.

Then squeeze every muscle in the back of your body trying to lift your body off the ground as much as possible. Hold your body up for 2-3 seconds while squeezing as hard as you can then release and repeat moving through a T position and a W position as shown below.

Plank and side plank variations

this exercise is a great way to create stability throughout your entire body. Begin by getting onto your forearms or hands, placing your elbows or hands directly below your shoulder. Maintain a straight line from head to toe, making sure to not drop or hike up your hips. Consciously squeeze every muscle in the body to stabilize. Imagine your body being used as a bench and needing to support a body sitting on top of you. This exercise will make the most advanced person shake within seconds.

You can increase the intensity by narrowing your support at your feet or even lifting a leg and or arm off the ground. Squeeze and hold as long as you can. Keep track of your time to see your progress.

On the side plank stack up your body, again elbow or hand below shoulder and maintain a straight line from head to toe. Make sure to not allow your hips to drop to the ground.

External rotations

For this exercise, you will need some type of resistance. If you have a light pair of dumbbells, a resistance band, or even a gallon of water (more or less water in it depending on your strength), you can perform this. The goal of this exercise is to engage the tiny muscles of your rotator cuff.

If you're using a band, start by mounting the band to a fixed object. Place your arm at a 90-degree angle hugging your elbow into your side with the band in hand. Keeping your elbow locked in on the side of the body, externally rotate at the shoulder bringing your hand straight back. This doesn’t involve a lot of movement but will strengthen the rotator cuff's very important muscles. Make sure to go light on to avoid injury.

If you’re using dumbbells, one way to perform the exercise is to place your elbows parallel to your shoulders with your hands hanging down. Then externally rotate your shoulder bringing the dumbbells straight up parallel with your head. Maintain good control on this movement and again, go light on this exercise and focus on the quality movement.

Swimmers

Begin by lying flat on your stomach and your arms above your head. Engage opposite side arm and leg, raising them as high as you can along with as much of your body as you can. Hold for 2-3 seconds and alternate sides.

This is by no means a complete program. Rather, a guide to directly help with muscle imbalances created from sedentary lifestyles many of us live. This is a great beginners guide to get you going on the right path to correct these imbalances and take control of your health.

If you want a more comprehensive personalized training program to optimize your health and become the healthiest version of yourself, check out The Holistic Method. The quality of life we live really impacts what we think and do in this life.

Hope this information benefits you or a loved one. Thanks so much for reading!