1. Try to get the least amount of sleep possible.

If quality sleep could be made in a lab and put in a pill, it would be one of the most expensive commodities in the world. There are sleeping pills on the market that make you essentially pass out, but they don’t replicate the quality sleep that we can get in a 7-8 hour window with proper sleep hygiene. The recovery from sleep however doesn’t come purely form the number of hours we stay in bed. It comes from the amount of hours of deep and REM sleep that we get. In this phase of sleep, our cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds our brain and spinal cord extract toxins form the body and help us to recover from the rigours of life. This taht negatively affect the quality of this sleep include: waking up regularly in the night, alcohol, stress, and irregular sleeping patterns, often seen in shift workers for example.

2. Minimise the amount of steps you do on a daily basis, particularly on work days.

Although the ‘10 thousands steps a day’ was an arbitrary number first made popular in Japan in the mid 20th century, the goal was a positive one. Give an objective target for people to reach every day. Adding several blocks of steps into your work day have a range of benefits including: improving mental health, detachment form a stressful work environment, increasing bloodflow to the body, getting joints moving under load, and aiding digestion. If you want to feel stressed, sluggish, stiff, and bloated during your work day, then a great first step would be to try and not leave your house all day, or stay at your desk for 8 hours.

3. Aim to hold the least amount of muscle possible.

When you walk, jump, climb stairs, or carry objects, there are forces (weight) going through your joints. Having muscle around these joints makes movement feel easier and more efficient. For example, if you walk a mile to get to the shops and you have a significant amount of muscle in your leg, then your bodyweight is being absorbed mainly by muscle. However, if you are in a situation that you are the same weight but have very little muscle, but more bodyfat, then your bodyweight mainly gets absorbed by your ankle, hip, knee, and low back joints. If you want daily tasks and movement to feel more difficult, and potentially painful long-term, then don’t try and gain and maintain muscle mass.

In the likely event that you don’t want to feel stiff, in pain, heavy, and unable to do the things that you love to do for decades to come, then the above tips are things to avoid. If you have any questions on whether physio is the best option for you, or you have any questions about MVMNT in general, feel free to contact via email.

- Jay Towolawi, Specialist Sports Physiotherapist and MVMNT Founder.