How to move more this year

Looking to be more active in the new year? Here are four expert tips on how to fit movement into your hectic schedule and stay motivated with research-backed strategies. Sign up for Life Kit's Guide to Dry January, our special newsletter series: http://npr.org/dryjanuaryLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:16Marielle Segarra?

  You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

• 0:23Marielle Segarra?

  Hey, everybody. It's Marielle. Question, are you moving right now? If not, how long have you been still? The thing is, our bodies love movement. A recent review paper from an exercise physiologist at Columbia University at Yale New Haven Hospital described movement as a biological necessity, like food, water, and sleep, and said that when we don't move enough, we feel the effects. Our bodies get restless, our muscles tense, our minds also tense. And when we do move around, taking a walk after dinner, bringing the laundry downstairs, dancing in the living room, we see the benefits. Our guts feel better, we sleep better, we have more energy, our blood sugar is better regulated, our moods improve.

• 1:08Marielle Segarra?

  Selena Duggan is a personal trainer in Barcelona.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  Once we start moving, it's amazing how quickly the body reacts and says, wow, this feels really good. This is what we're supposed to be doing. The human body is meant to move, but the first step, which is always the hardest, is just to move.

• 1:26Marielle Segarra?

  On this episode of Life Kit, how to get moving in 2025. We've rounded up our favorite tips to help you lead a more active lifestyle. And if you weren't moving when this episode started, why not start now? Unless you're driving or something, then you can start later.

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• 3:03Marielle Segarra?

  I remember seeing an ad once where this woman gets to the gym and she says, whoops, forgot my hair tie. Guess I have to go home. I don't remember what they were selling, but that resonated because I'm pretty sure I've done something exactly like that. Even though we are built to move, we'll look for any excuse to not do it. Which brings me to our first takeaway. Figure out your why. You may recognize this takeaway because a lot of our episodes start with it. And it's a classic for a reason. Knowing why you're doing something can keep you motivated when you don't feel like doing that thing in the moment. So why do you want to move more this year? Do you have some high-energy toddlers you're trying to keep up with? Are you feeling extra stiff whenever you stand up from your desk?

• 3:48Marielle Segarra?

  Are you trying to regulate your blood sugar better or get better sleep? Do you want to get stronger so you can bring all those grocery bags into your house in one trip? If your motivator is something long-term, like I want to be healthier and live longer, that's valid and reasonable, but it's also an ongoing pursuit and it's something you may not feel immediately. So it can help to get more specific and to think about the short-term benefits of movement, too.

• 4:11Speaker 05

  We know that it helps people generate energy. We know that it boosts mood. We know that it improves executive functioning and all the tasks associated with that focus, you know, creativity. There are so many... Positives that happen when you move.

• 4:31Marielle Segarra?

  That's Michelle Seeger. She's a researcher at the University of Michigan who focuses on exercise and motivation.

• 4:36Speaker 05

  When people actually get an immediate positive experience when they move, that is just about the most potent motivator for continuing to do it. And the big goal is to have people think of physical movement as their ally in life, as a strategy, I dare say even as a friend that can help them feel their best on the days they feel good and feel better on the days they feel bad.

• 5:07Marielle Segarra?

  Another motivator for a lot of folks is getting stronger. If that's you, think about the activities you'll be able to do once you get swole. Purna Bell is a powerlifter and author of Stronger: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength. She started lifting weights after struggling to flip her mattress in 2016. And now she loves strength training.

• 5:27Speaker 06

  If you'd asked me a few years ago that this would be the kind of activity that not only that I do, but that I enjoy doing, I wouldn't have believed you.

• 5:35Marielle Segarra?

  Purna realized she'd never prioritized getting physically strong, and a lot of that had to do with our culture.

• 5:40Speaker 06

  The language that we use to talk about our own bodies and how we relate to physical activity, and the classic one being, oh, I've got to equating fitness or movement to working off something that you've eaten is such a big one for me. And so that ends up being the dominant narrative, not, I might want to lift some weights because that will help me to like carry my luggage or a dustbin or something else.

• 6:05Marielle Segarra?

  OK, now that you know your why, the next step is to figure out your how. The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or some combination of the two. Moderate intensity could be a brisk walk or yard work. Vigorous is more like running or riding a bike fast. It also recommends muscle strengthening two or more days a week: climb a tree, lift some weights, do Pilates, carry the groceries. But of course, we're all busy. Life is packed with work, family commitments, laundry, waiting on hold with customer service. When are we supposed to work out?

• 6:46Marielle Segarra?

  Luckily, takeaway two, you can move and exercise a little bit at a time.

• 6:52Speaker 05

  Fortunately for us, the research does now show that basically all movement counts. Anything counts and anything is better than nothing.

• 7:02Marielle Segarra?

  That's Michelle Zieger again. NPR science correspondent Maria Godoy quizzed her on what counts as exercise.

• 7:08Speaker 07

  All right, true or false? You have to sweat for it to count for health benefits.

• 7:13Speaker 05

  False.

• 7:13Speaker 07

  You have to do it in 30-minute uninterrupted stretches.

• 7:17Speaker 05

  False.

• 7:18Speaker 07

  You need to feel the burn or it really doesn't count.

• 7:20Speaker 05

  False.

• 7:21Speaker 07

  All right, so where are we?

• 7:22Speaker 05

  Did I pass?

• 7:23Speaker 07

  Yeah, you passed. Ding ding ding.

• 7:26Marielle Segarra?

  If you don't have a 45-minute block of time for a spin workout, that's OK. Try doing squats or lunges for a couple of minutes while you're waiting for the kettle to boil.

• 7:34Speaker 07

  Your free time is likely going to show up in pockets that are much smaller than you were anticipating, but are meaty, you know, if you really look at them and put them together.

• 7:43Marielle Segarra?

  Katie Bowman is a biomechanist. She studies how forces in motion affect the human body. And she's the co-author of the book, I Know I Should Exercise, But... She says try to seize those small moments of downtime throughout the day.

• 7:58Speaker 07

  One thing you can do is if you find yourself waiting, you got someplace early and you now have seven minutes or 12 minutes, tune into that, set this as an intention or a cue that any time you find yourself sort of sitting idly in your car, you're going to get up and you're going to get out and you're just going to move around. Go for a very brief walk. You can hop in place. You can reach up and touch the top of the car.

• 8:23Marielle Segarra?

  Sometimes I do calf raises when I'm brushing my teeth because I always remember to brush my teeth.

• 8:27Speaker 07

  When you've got something that happens regularly in your day and you tether movement to that, then that occurrence in your day becomes a reminder for you to get a little bit of movement.

• 8:37Speaker 06

  You know, one of the things that I urge the people that I train. It's to get creative with your time.

• 8:43Marielle Segarra?

  That's Martinez Evans. He's a marathon runner and author of the book Slow AF Run Club, The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run.

• 8:51Speaker 06

  What are you doing when you're watching TV? Can you go to, like, you know, if you have a gym membership, can you go to the gym and watch TV at the gym while you do your run?

• 9:02Marielle Segarra?

  Or if you're caring for your baby or young kids and you're strapped for time.

• 9:06Speaker 06

  Look, grab a kid, grab a toddler and do some air squats. Use them as a weight. Now you got a 10 to 15 pound weight. Hold your baby out and curl them with your biceps, kiss them. Like, that's the thing about exercise. Like, all of this is killing your muscles and all of it is beneficial.

• 9:25Marielle Segarra?

  OK, so small movements throughout the day are great. The science backs that up. But if you can carve out time for longer workouts, take away three, harness behavioral science techniques to stay motivated. Katie Milkman is a professor at the Wharton School of Business. She researches behavioral change and how we can create habits that stick. One of the motivation techniques Katie recommends is something called temptation bundling. So say you really like watching some TV series, like The Crown, for example. Here's Katie explaining temptation bundling to NPR correspondent Allison Aubrey.

• 9:58Speaker 06

  My research has shown that it can increase the rate at which people exercise if they combine a real pleasure that they look forward to with their workouts. So you're not allowed to watch The Crown unless you're at the gym. That's the idea. And as a result, you're going to start craving trips to the gym to see the next episode and you won't feel any guilt about spending time watching TV because you'll be working out.

• 10:21Marielle Segarra?

  Katie has also researched what happens if you falter on the goals that you've set.

• 10:25Speaker 06

  The what the hell effect says that if we fail to hit our goals, we can throw in the towel and go crazy.

• 10:32Marielle Segarra?

  Say you plan to wake up early and go for a walk every day before work this week. But Monday you oversleep. Then Tuesday you think to yourself, What the hell? I already failed yesterday. Now the whole week is shot.

• 10:43Speaker 06

  So that's the risk of goals. If they're tough and then you don't make it, you can throw in the towel and actually be worse off.

• 10:50Marielle Segarra?

  Instead, allow yourself free passes and plan for them ahead of time.

• 10:53Speaker 06

  So if you set the tough goal, like, I'm gonna try to go to the gym five days this week. It's gonna be a stretch, but I'm gonna try really hard for it. Just remind yourself that you have a couple of free passes. If you have a late night at work, you can take a mulligan, and it's okay. You don't want to give yourself five free passes, but maybe two.

• 11:12Marielle Segarra?

  You'll actually do better with a tough goal if you build in that allowance for the occasional failure.

• 11:18Marielle Segarra?

  All right, our last takeaway. Takeaway four. The best type of exercise is the exercise that you will actually do. Find something you love, something that challenges you but that you don't dread. It might take some trial and error to figure out what that is.

• 11:33Speaker 05

  How can we craft our physical movement so that we want to do it? And so that it fits into our hectic lives? So that we're able to do it today or tomorrow? And then if you can't do it the day after tomorrow, instead of feeling guilty or like a failure, you go, oh, there's one day it didn't work. But guess what? I have the rest of the week and the rest of my life to keep fitting it in.

• 11:57Marielle Segarra?

  I know for me, I don't like going to traditional gyms. When I get a gym membership, I don't use it. I guess I find it boring. And I don't love the bright lights and the sweaty smells. I do like running outside, using my stationary bike, doing yoga or other mat exercises at home, and going rock climbing, which, yes, is at a gym, but it feels different to me. It's like I'm solving a puzzle. And sometimes I pretend I'm Tom Cruise scaling a wall in Mission Impossible. Gamifying your exercise routine is one way to make it feel more fun.

• 12:29Speaker 06

  Gamification is trying to take things that we want to do, which are typically tedious and boring, and finding ways of making them fun. It typically uses game-based elements like points, levels, and badges.

• 12:40Marielle Segarra?

  Dr. Mitesh Patel is a behavioral scientist and a vice president at the healthcare company Ascension. He studies gamification and exercise.

• 12:49Marielle Segarra?

  Dr. Patel ran a trial where they tracked the step count of about 600 employees from a single company. The employees were separated into groups. Some of those groups had games tied to their goals. They racked up points or had levels to clear. And then there was a control group. No games for them, just goals. The study found over the course of nine months.

• 13:08Speaker 06

  The average person in the competition in gamified arm walked about 100 miles more than the average person in the control arm.

• 13:15Marielle Segarra?

  100 miles more. So yeah, inject your workout with some fun and celebrate your wins. You could try a running app or a VR video game workout. The sky is the limit here. Another idea is to give dancing a try.

• 13:29Speaker 04

  We, as humans, have the most incredible tool to experiment with, to express ourselves with. There's nothing as satisfying as going into a class, dancing so hard that like, the mirror starts to fog up. Everybody's sweating. Everybody's kind of giving that energy.

• 13:51Marielle Segarra?

  That's Alicia Graf-Mack. She's the director of dance at Juilliard.

• 13:55Speaker 04

  Give it one class or two classes and see if it works for you. If you know that you want to be in a very like rigorous, physical practice, then maybe a cardio dance class or a hip hop class or like a salsa class or something like that.

• 14:12Marielle Segarra?

  Or tap dance. That's always been my personal fave. I love the way it feels and sounds when my taps hit the wooden floors. If there's a kind of movement that you find intriguing or exciting, think of that curiosity as a trail of breadcrumbs. Follow them. Try it out. It could become your favorite way to move. Okay, time for a recap. Takeaway one, figure out your why. Why do you want to move more this year? Think long term and short term and be specific. Takeaway two, you can move and exercise a little bit at a time. It all adds up. Takeaway three, try some behavioral science techniques to stay motivated, like bundling your exercise with pleasurable activities like watching your favorite TV

• 14:57Marielle Segarra?

  show and only watch the show when you work out. And takeaway four, the best type of movement is the kind that you will actually do. So follow your curiosity, listen to your body, take yourself seriously when you're bored or dreading a certain kind of exercise, and keep trying things until you find the sports and activities that stick. For more Life Kit, check out our other episodes. We have one on how to get started with weightlifting and another on running. You can find those at npr.org/lifekit. And if you love Life Kit and want even more, subscribe to our newsletter at npr.org/lifekitnewsletter. Also, we love hearing from you, so if you have episode ideas or feedback you want to share, email us at [email protected].

• 15:41Marielle Segarra?

  This episode of Life Kit was produced by Sylvie Douglas. Our visuals editor is Beck Harlan, and our digital editor is Malika Gharib. Megan Cain is our supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle, Claire Marie Schneider, and Margaret Sorino. Engineering support comes from Robert Rodriguez and David Greenberg. I'm Marielle Segarra. Thanks for listening.