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Other/Mixed Tiny fitness habits

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
morning_star

morning_star

Level 1 Valued Member
Since listening to some podcasts about Built to Move and Dan John on health/weight loss I’ve been experimenting with the idea of organizing my daily routine around movement.

I still do my training but I’ve been trying to find ways to practice strength and mobility skills in other spaces.

Here are a few I’m working on
- standing on one foot while brushing teeth, washing dishes, getting dressed (alternate as needed)
- diaphragmatic breaching when dozing off to sleep
- neck nods / rotations when on the toilet or while working on the computer
- sitting on the floor vs. chair/couch when practical
- more barefoot walking around the house
- practicing bing or deep squat or single leg dead lift when bending down

Anyone else done similar things? Would love to hear some more ideas.
 
@vladie, for me, the kinds of things you list become tiresome quickly. There is something wonderful, IMO, about letting your mind wander when you're brushing your teeth, washing dishes, etc. I wouldn't want to give that up. I do like some of your choices, e.g., sitting on the floor. I sit cross-legged on the sofa or on a chair that's big enough, sometimes in what they call half-Lotus. I find it quite comfortable. Diaphragmatic breathing - that's something to do all the time, no reason to breath another way ever for me. But rather than combining sitting at the computer and some exercise, I'd rather just get up from the computer often and do that exercise as needed.

JMO, YMMV (Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.)

-S-
 
Have you ever heard of Pomodoro breaks? Every hour you take a 5 min break (or every 2 hours you take a 10 minute break) from work/school/whatever.

I've been doing the 2 hour / 10 minute break option and every break I'll do:

-an exercise + visualization / meditation on what I want the next two hours to look like
-an exercise + a random task I normally wouldn't find the time to get done

Exercises are usually Original Strength or calisthenics, though at home I've added KB get-ups and sandbag work. It's kind of like adding Easy Strength to my day.

The results have been tremendous: it's accelerating my fitness goals, it's preventing me from feeling burnt out at the end of the day, and I've become a lot more productive.
 
vladie said:
Since listening to some podcasts about Built to Move and Dan John on health/weight loss I’ve been experimenting with the idea of organizing my daily routine around movement.

I still do my training but I’ve been trying to find ways to practice strength and mobility skills in other spaces.

Here are a few I’m working on
- standing on one foot while brushing teeth, washing dishes, getting dressed (alternate as needed)
- diaphragmatic breaching when dozing off to sleep
- neck nods / rotations when on the toilet or while working on the computer
- sitting on the floor vs. chair/couch when practical
- more barefoot walking around the house
- practicing bing or deep squat or single leg dead lift when bending down

Anyone else done similar things? Would love to hear some more ideas.
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Katy Bowman has a book called Move You DNA which is basically about stuff like that. Finding ways to organise your life/home so that you get the most variety of movement.

Floor sitting is one of the best ones for me, you can get tons of hip mobility just by varying the different sitting positions.
 
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I don't really do anything like that purposely, I guess.

However, I do have what I call "Workouts I Do When I Don't Want to Work Out". They don't take that long and don't impact me a lot recovery-wise. Usually one of the following:
*Twist Yo' Wrist or specialized grip/hand/wrist exercise
*a 15 minute EDT session of 2-3 exercises
*100 push-ups (usually in 4-5 sets of 20-30)
*"YATs" w. microband (shoulder exercises, 3-5 sets of 50/50/50 reps)
*hip adduction/abduction w. bands
 
I also like to do this. If you follow the Bioneer's youtube channel he refers to this as incidental training which I think is a nice terminology to sum up what you are talking about. It would be any exercise you do that isn't part of your training program. I think about it as really just adding more movement or skill training into daily life. Some other ideas might include....
  • Performing gymnastic scales, sissy squats, hindu squats, or pistol squats when bending down to pick up items
  • Walking to do tasks at every opportunity when you might otherwise drive the car
  • Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Lunging or bounding up the stairs
  • Sitting in a deep prying squat while watching TV
  • Calf raises while waiting for the bus
  • Using a grip trainer GTG style while sitting at the desk
  • GTG pullups by putting a pullup bar along you path around the house
I think these things are helpful to increase your energy levels throughout the day and maintaining some movement quality

 
Steve Freides said:
@vladie, for me, the kinds of things you list become tiresome quickly. There is something wonderful, IMO, about letting your mind wander when you're brushing your teeth, washing dishes, etc. I wouldn't want to give that up.
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Great balancing thought there. Sometimes I do get "fixated" about my approach towards one element of wellbing and just look for outputs. I am also experimenting with tiny "reset" habits to recenter and just be in the moment.

I have found, though that intentionally moving my body during another activity opens up a space of mindfulness/presence that I wouldn't experience if I was not moving.

Everything in phases though, perhaps. I don't see myself doing some of these 365 days a year, but perhaps a monthly rotation of a focus on a specific skill.

While I do the above, I am taking Sundays off, intentionally relaxing and resting.


3letterslong said:
Have you ever heard of Pomodoro breaks? Every hour you take a 5 min break (or every 2 hours you take a 10 minute break) from work/school/whatever.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have. I generally do the 25 work / 5 rest ... but your longer intervals got me thinking ... I think when I'm doing deep work I'll move to 50/10 and when I'm doing shallow/mundane work back to 25/5. That'd usually be AM/PM for me when days flow like I intend.

I've enjoyed incorporating OS into my movement and I've noticed a big difference.


Ben Strong said:
  • Performing gymnastic scales, sissy squats, hindu squats, or pistol squats when bending down to pick up items
  • Walking to do tasks at every opportunity when you might otherwise drive the car
  • Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Lunging or bounding up the stairs
  • Sitting in a deep prying squat while watching TV
  • Calf raises while waiting for the bus
  • Using a grip trainer GTG style while sitting at the desk
  • GTG pullups by putting a pullup bar along you path around the house
Click to expand...
Great ideas, thanks for sharing!

The concept of "take the longer path with more movement, or the same path with more challenging movement" is something I'm trying to practice. Mindful movement and getting out of my head into my body more.
 
I don't have any type of system or schedule but, when I think to, I like to practice balance. Or practice L-sits in the kitchen with hands on the stove and back of a chair. Or stretch out in front of the tv.
 
vladie said:
Since listening to some podcasts about Built to Move and Dan John on health/weight loss I’ve been experimenting with the idea of organizing my daily routine around movement.

I still do my training but I’ve been trying to find ways to practice strength and mobility skills in other spaces.

Here are a few I’m working on
- standing on one foot while brushing teeth, washing dishes, getting dressed (alternate as needed)
- diaphragmatic breaching when dozing off to sleep
- neck nods / rotations when on the toilet or while working on the computer
- sitting on the floor vs. chair/couch when practical
- more barefoot walking around the house
- practicing bing or deep squat or single leg dead lift when bending down

Anyone else done similar things? Would love to hear some more ideas.
Click to expand...
I find it way easier to set an alarm every 60 minutes during my working hours (I work from home), get up from the chair and spend a couple of minutes doing really easy Original Strength resets (you could do a few goblet squats or push ups instead).

It doesn't seem like much, but it all adds up.
 
I used to spend rather a lot of time in deep squat position, seize or similar stuff. I peeled potatoes and read books in deep squat position and this was one of the best hacks I was able to consistently implement in my everyday life.

But it's no issue since I have a kid and spend hours on the floor squatting, kneeling, lunging, getting up and playing with tiny cars.
 
I always walk barefoot at home and almost all shoes I have are zero drop and wide. At least I don’t mess my feet more.

I am never consistent with those small movement habits. But Steve’s GTG post made me to rethink about GTG..
 
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