5-DAY FITNESS CHALLENGE

WHY DAILY MOVEMENT MATTERS

SO WHY IS DAILY MOVEMENT IMPORTANT?

A lot of people dread exercise because they connect working out with weight loss and body
image and feel like it’s something they are “supposed to do” and not necessarily enjoy. They
go to the gym and use cardio machines and do dozens of crunches and then feel miserable
because they don’t have a fitness model body. So, they stop going.

Moving your body every day is about more than just exercise and looking better. Healthy
movement improves your thinking, relationships and purpose in life. As a bonus, it will also
improve your health, body composition and function. Plus, healthy movement is about doing
activities you actually enjoy.

As you age, if you’re not intentional about keeping your muscles active, you’ll see a gradual
decline in your muscle tissue starting in your 30s. You can lose as much as 3% to 5% of your
muscle mass each decade!

Staying active will not only make you stronger and help you look better, but by having more
lean muscle mass on your body, you’ll burn more fat during the day. Plus, weight-bearing
activities are a great way to prevent bone loss as you get older.

Think about how you feel after you’ve been sitting around for hours, versus how you feel when
you’re up moving around. You feel better when you’re active, right?

Movement gives you energy and has also been shown to be great for reducing stress, anxiety
and depression, as well as keeping you looking and feeling younger.

However, our lives are structured in a way that makes it hard to get regular movement – we sit
in cars or on public transportation on the way to and from work. We sit at desks for much of
our work day. We come home and sit down and watch TV.

You were born to move!

No matter what your current activity level, the more you move, the better your body will
function. This means you’ll be able to move well and climb stairs or hills; step over obstacles;
carry groceries; stand up from sitting down or get up from the floor; grasp and hold objects,
pull or drag things, walk an energetic dog etc.

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WHY DAILY MOVEMENT MATTERS

Once you start moving more, you become more functional which inspires more confidence.
The confidence makes you want to move even more, which leads to improved fitness and
body composition and even more function and confidence.

What I want you to learn through this 5-day challenge is that you don’t need “workouts” to
move. Our ancestors didn’t go to an exercise class. They were walking, climbing, running,
crawling, swimming, digging, squatting, throwing and carrying things. They danced. They
played.

Working out is simply a way to get your body to move more – but it’s not necessary if you
program regular movement into your day.

in cars or on public transportation on the way to and from work. We sit at desks for much of
our work day. We come home and sit down and watch TV.

You were born to move!

No matter what your current activity level, the more you move, the better your body will
function. This means you’ll be able to move well and climb stairs or hills; step over obstacles;
carry groceries; stand up from sitting down or get up from the floor; grasp and hold objects,
pull or drag things, walk an energetic dog etc.

Once you start moving more, you become more functional which inspires more confidence.
The confidence makes you want to move even more, which leads to improved fitness and
body composition and even more function and confidence.

What I want you to learn through this 5-day challenge is that you don’t need “workouts” to
move. Our ancestors didn’t go to an exercise class. They were walking, climbing, running,
crawling, swimming, digging, squatting, throwing and carrying things. They danced. They
played.

Working out is simply a way to get your body to move more – but it’s not necessary if you
program regular movement into your day.

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WHY DAILY MOVEMENT MATTERS

How much do you sit in a day?

On average, North American sit for almost 10 hours each day. This includes sitting time at
meals, at work, commuting, and at home.

In recent years, research has shown that sitting for more than four hours each day can lead
to:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Cancer
• Back ache
• Dementia
• Depression
• Muscle degeneration

Estimate the time you spend sitting on an average working day so that you can go through
this 5-day challenge and participate to the full extent.