How to Actively Improve Your Sedentary Life

Long gone are the days of hunting your own food, chopping your own firewood, and plowing your own soil– something I would suggest that most of us are pretty damn happy about.

However, these physically demanding activities have been replaced by more time sitting, working, and not really doing a whole lot with our body.

And I get it – I really do.

Over the last decade or so, work stress has gone through the roof. You are spending more and more time stuck sitting at your desks, grinding away. And at times this can feel so mentally and emotionally draining that by the time you actually get home, you want nothing more than to simply relax on the couch and switch off completely.

[caption id="attachment_20462" align="aligncenter" width="920"]This picture reflects what happened. Sitting down a lot at work made me tired. I tried to compensate by drinking coffee. In the long run that actually even made things worse.[/caption]

And unfortunately, while this might be what you feel like doing, this rapid increase in sedentary behavior has led to huge declines in health across the nation. Combine this with weight gain, unwanted body composition changes, and associated declines in mental health and self-esteem, and you have a recipe for disaster.

But it doesn’t have to be like this.

You can take steps to actively improve your sedentary life for the better.

The 4 tips outlined in this article are what I suggest to anyone who is looking to improve their life (and their body) for the better should try and implement before anything else.

4 Tips to Help You Improve Your Life -- Starting NOW!

1. Get Your Sleep Sorted

One of the biggest issues that I see in the modern man is what I like to call the sleep-stress cycle. A combination of both work and life stress and reduced physical activity makes sleep difficult, which actually promotes more stress.



This then becomes a vicious cycle, where you find yourself in a perpetual state of being both overtired and highly strung. Now this state has been shown to wreak absolute havoc with your hormone levels, increasing cortisol secretion significantly, while simultaneously reducing testosterone production in a very big way.

This combination is nasty because it can increase your body fat while simultaneously causing your energy levels to plummet.

So, with this in mind, increasing your sleep duration and sleep quality is a sure-fire way to get your hormone levels back on track, increase your energy levels, and make it easier to increase your activity levels.

And the trick to this?

• No screens after 9 pm (I know this is a tough one, but once you get used to it, you never want to get back to your old habit).


• Be in bed 8-9 hours before you need to wake.

It is seriously that simple.

By reducing screen time, you lower your exposure to blue light, allowing you to get to sleep faster. Additionally, by going to bed earlier and actually allowing yourself adequate time to get to sleep, getting a solid 7 or 8 hours becomes much more likely.

2. Set Yourself a Manageable Goal

When it comes to health and activity specifically, most people have a tendency to set rather large health goals. Think about how many people you know have started a fitness journey with ‘I want to run a marathon’, or ‘ I need to lose 20 pounds ’, and then failed spectacularly?

While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with these goals, I would argue that they are too far away to keep us motivated. You see, even if you are making significant progress, your primary goal still feels like an eternity away.



Which is why we should set small measurable and action related goals that can develop into more habitual changes.

For example:

We might make our first goal: To stick to my sleep routine.

The second could be: Make it to the gym at least 3 times a week this month.

The third might be: Walk the dog each day on the weekend.

By implementing and working towards these small-scale goals, we can instill habitual changes into our lives, and make ourselves much more active in the process.

On a side note, using (fitness) apps to help you reach your fitness goals can be very helpful as well.

3. Make Yourself Accountable to Someone

Sometimes it takes a little bit more than just setting goals to actually get you active – which is why sharing those goals with someone is a great way to make yourself accountable.

This could be your spouse, your best friends, or even a work colleague – it doesn’t really matter – the key is to tell them your training goals so that they are aware of what you are trying to do. Not only will their support go a long way, but it’s also so much harder to skip a gym session when you have already told someone that you are going to do it.

Building on this notion a little further, if you find someone who is willing to start exercising with you, then you are going to be even more likely to succeed.

Not only will this keep you accountable, but having someone to push you does absolute wonders for motivation. Additionally, this can create a little bit of healthy competition which can further stoke your desire to succeed.

So finding someone to exercise with for even a single session per week can make huge changes to both your motivation and your activity levels.

4. Make Exercise a Part of Your Routine

And finally, to put it all together, you need to make it routine.

Make your sleep habitual and get your training times regular – this ensures that they become an integral and unchanging part of your life. This not only ensures progress but also makes you so much more likely to stick to it in the long run.

A trick that helps with this (particularly from the exercise perspective) is to treat your exercise sessions like appointments.

Way too many people think of exercise as a bit of a luxury – something that isn’t necessary if they don’t feel like it. But by starting to view your workouts as something that literally cannot be missed, you are going to be much more likely to stick to them.

Organize a routine, and do not miss your training sessions – going in with the mindset that you must attend them is a great way to make them habitual and keep you active.

Takeaway Message

Falling into the routine of a sedentary lifestyle happens – I will be the first to admit it. But considering the impact it can have on both your physical and mental health, its best to get active as quickly as possible.

By implementing the 4 tips listed in this article you can take the first few steps to increase your energy levels and getting active. While I can’t promise it will be easy, I can promise that it will work – and it will change your life for the better.

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Author Bio:

Demmy James is a fitness buff who loves inspiring people to reach their health and fitness goals. He is also a content contributor for Muscle & Strength.

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