By Allison Hoit

November is often filled with family, friends, food, fall festivities and giving thanks. While these are all important, here at NCHPAD we are changing it up a bit and encouraging you to move more during what we like to call MOVE-EMBER. You can still enjoy the festivities of fall, but work on incorporating more movement into your day this month and throughout the holidays with the help of our 30 days of MOVE-EMBER video series. 

Why is it so important to move more throughout the day? In addition to the benefits for general fitness and cardiovascular health, moving more also contributes to reduced sedentary behavior that is far too often the norm due to desk jobs or sitting during the school day. In fact, recent research findings are revealing that sitting too much during the day can be detrimental to an individual’s health regardless of whether they meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans or not. 

The term “sedentary” is directly associated with the phrase ‘to sit’ in Latin origin. A sedentary individual used to mean a person who did not meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Recent research findings are shedding a new meaning on the term “sedentary” by incorporating a lack of movement throughout the day. There is a strong relationship between sitting and all health causes of mortality even considering those individuals that do meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity.  What does this news mean for active individuals who also work an eight-hour desk job? Physical activity does not cancel out the negative health effects of sitting too long during the day. In order to lead a less sedentary life, individuals must get up and move more throughout the day. 

Join us this month by tuning into our 30 days of MOVE-EMBER video series which can be found on our YouTube channel and posted through Facebook and Twitter. This video series will include 30 different moves in 30-second video clips.  Add these moves into your day in addition to your current physical activity routine to send that “sedentary” term packing! Mention us @NCHPAD on Twitter when you try out a move or have a move of your own to share and use the hashtag #MOVEember30.

Here is one move-wheelchair burpees-to get you started!  Make sure to check out our YouTube channel playlist under 30 days of MOVE-EMBER for the rest of the videos.