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At USA Vein Clinics, our vein specialists suggest focusing not only on moving more but also on doing a variety of different movements to get your body working. Here, we discuss how to incorporate physical activity into your everyday routine.<br>
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You might have heard that a sedentary lifestyle is not suitable for your health and you should exercise to stay active. While this is true, it is also important to move around frequently throughout the day. For instance, if you exercise for an hour and spend the rest of your day sitting in a chair, you are not completely solving the problem. If you want to learn how to be more physically active, it may be helpful to understand more ways to incorporate physical activity into daily life. At USA Vein Clinics, our vein specialists suggest focusing not only on moving more but also on doing a variety of different movements to get your body working. This can be achieved by thinking of your daily routine and which body parts you use most often and then using the parts of your body that may be neglected.
Our bodies are built to move, but our lifestyles may get in the way of being more active. Much of our daily lives are filled with sitting activities, such as driving, working at a desk, watching TV, reading, playing video games, and eating. Over time, these sitting activities can lead to the development of vein disease, a common health condition that is the underlying cause of varicose veins and spider veins. Below, we discuss how to incorporate physical activity into your everyday routine. If you have questions about how being more active can improve your vein health, we recommend consulting a vein specialist.
How to Be More Physically Active 1. Think About Moving One suggestion for how to be more active in your daily life is simply to start your day with the mindset to move more. For instance, sit less and stand more. Park away from your destination so that you walk more. Walk to talk with a coworker instead of emailing them. Do some exercise while you watch TV. Stand up when you talk on the phone. Turn informal meetings with coworkers into short walks. Replace a coffee break with a brisk 10-minute walk. Take more steps and stairs. There are many more ways to sneak more movement into your daily routine. Begin each day with a mindset to move more, and you will find numerous opportunities to do it.
2. Reduce Couch Time With all the fantastic TV shows and movies available to stream, it’s not a secret why we spend so much time sitting on the couch. Therefore, another suggestion for how to be more active during the day is to incorporate movement while streaming your favorite shows. For instance, try sitting on the floor and doing simple stretches. Incorporating yoga can help stimulate blood flow and improve overall circulation throughout your body.
3. Fidget You may not realize this, but fidgeting is good for your health. Feel free to jiggle your legs, flex your toes, and wiggle around in your chair. A report published in the Washington Post that looked at the mortality rate of over 14,000 women aged 35 to 69 found that the group with the lowest level of fidgeting had a higher mortality rate. Fidgeting seems to be a healthy, everyday habit.
4. Do Push-Ups and Planks Another way to incorporate physical activity into daily life is to spend just a few minutes each day doing some floor exercises. A basic push-up works your chest and arms and, if you can hold your body in a perfect line throughout (plank position), it will work your core and leg muscles. Try to work up to holding a plank position for at least 60 seconds. Even a few seconds a day can help strengthen muscles that are not always used.
5. Exercise To Boost Your Sense Of Well-Being How can you incorporate physical activity into your daily routine? Schedule time to exercise each day, preferably in the morning before you can get side-tracked, and choose an activity that you enjoy. This habit can aid in disease prevention and help you follow a healthier lifestyle., It is also rewarding in terms of short-term benefits. You can exercise to get more energy, feel happier, alleviate stress, and sleep better. Commit to what you can achieve, and increase by small increments of time to eventually build up. Exercising can boost memory and overall cognition, which can help in the aging process.
6. Focus On Health And Strength, Not Just Weight Loss While being more active can help people manage their weight, it’s important to focus on the joy of exercising and movements, not just on the bottom line. Take satisfaction when you are able to exercise for longer, and when you become stronger. What connects you to exercise on an emotional level is important as these thoughts will motivate you to keep your exercise routine. When you focus on how to be more active during the day, you may be pleasantly surprised by experiencing improvements in both your physical and mental health.
7. Make Physical Activity A Regular Part Of Your Day You can boost your activity level by finding a consistent activity in your daily routine, such as a 10-minute walk from a subway station, parking lot, or bus stop. Make sure that the activity is of a minimum 10 minutes duration as shorter bursts will not have the same health benefits. Additional suggestions for activities include walking your dog for 15 minutes before and after work, lifting light weights, doing yoga, climbing stairs, and doing leg lifts. It may be helpful to keep comfortable clothes and a pair of walking shoes in your car for 10-minute bursts of physical activities whenever you find the time.
8. Stand Up Often, But Don’t Replace Sitting With Standing Our vein specialists recommend looking for ways to stand more often in your daily life. If you do a desk job, make sure you stand up at least once every hour. A 2016 study found that sitting down for more than 3 hours every day caused more than 430,000 deaths across 54 countries. Stand whenever the opportunity arises. Volunteer to stay standing when there are fewer chairs than people. Consider a standing desk or treadmill desk. You can even set an hourly alarm to remind you to get up out of your chair throughout the day.
However, keep in mind that standing too much can be just as bad for your body as sitting too much. When you replace sitting with standing, you may introduce your body to different health issues. A study by Australia’s Curtin University found that individuals who stood for 2 hours while working had an increased body discomfort and a reduced mental state. A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the individuals who primarily stood at the job had double the risk of heart disease compared to those who primarily remain seated. Standing and sitting for prolonged periods are major risk factors for vein disease. To avoid this, you may want to aim for a balanced combination of sitting, standing, and moving around throughout the day.
9. Squat And Squat More If you, like many of us, have a job that requires long periods of sitting, you may want to add in some squatting exercises. Spending more time squatting can help with mobility, strength, and alignment. If performing a traditional squat is challenging, you have some options. You can anchor your hands to a chair or doorway, or to an elevated surface like a yoga block. You can also bring your feet closer together or further apart with your heels down or up. Or, while kneeling, try bringing one leg up to a squat position, or placing one leg on a chair surface or higher while standing.
How Being Active Can Improve Your Vein Health Following are nine sneaky ways to incorporate physical activity into daily life can reduce the risk for vein disease and alleviate its painful symptoms. By pairing a more active lifestyle with regular exercise and a healthy diet, you can experience an improved quality of life. While incorporating movement throughout your day can help relieve bodily pain, getting to the root cause of your pain is important. Many people ignore leg pain, which may be a sign of an underlying condition such as vein disease, also known as venous insufficiency. Vein disease can make your limbs feel heavy or achy, challenging physical activity. Results across studies suggest that up to 17% of men and up to 40% of women in the general population may experience chronic venous insufficiency in the general population.
Improve Your Vein Health With USA Vein Clinics Sometimes, being more active isn’t enough to alleviate the effects of vein disease. If you are suffering from painful symptoms, we want you to know that USA Vein Clinics offers a range of minimally invasive, office-based vein treatments using state of the art technology. Vein specialists at our clinics provide varicose vein treatment to alleviate venous symptoms like leg swelling, achiness, fatigue, cramping, itching and burning, and skin discoloration. Vein treatment can also reduce your risk of developing serious health issues like blood clots and venous ulcers and enhance your overall quality of life.
If you’re interested in pursuing minimally invasive, outpatient vein treatment, give us a call at 888.768.3467 or visit our website to schedule online. We have vein treatment clinics at over 90 locations nationwide, including California, Washington, Florida, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Georgia, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York. Our highly skilled vein specialists also offer convenient virtual doctor visits.
