We’re already prone to a sedentary lifestyle, and then COVID came along and made the problem worse. So, how do we get our groove back when we’re feeling stagnant and unmotivated? According to guest Lizzy Williamson, founder and author of Two Minute Moves, it’s all about getting up and getting moving. Incorporating movement into our workday — even if it’s just for a couple of minutes — is critical to not only our physical health but to our mental health as well. To learn more about how you can get that blood (and productivity) flowing, give this episode a listen.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Coming to us all the way from Sydney, Australia, Lizzy Williamson is passionate about helping people incorporate “bite-sized wellbeing breaks” into their daily lives. She is the founder and author of Two Minute Moves and a fitness expert with over fifteen years of experience in getting people up and moving.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
THE INSPIRATION
Lizzy Williamson’s perspective on the power of movement changed when she experienced a severe bout of postpartum depression. She was in “a terrible, terrible headspace,” and when she finally went to the doctor for help, she learned that it was critical that she “put on her own oxygen mask before assisting others.” That’s when Lizzy decided to incorporate 20-minute at-home workouts into her day.
But, of course, it didn’t work out as Lizzy had planned. She explained, “When you’ve got kids, the moment you start doing something for yourself, their little radar goes off. The first time I did it — which was a really, really hard moment to bring myself to do it — it only lasted for a few minutes before my daughter screamed out to me.” But instead of giving up, she told herself to come back and try again tomorrow. And that’s what she did. She decided to say to herself, “Two minutes is all you have to do.”
As she pushed forward, Lizzy “started to feel that [she] was actually achieving something, and then very, very slowly, that created a bit of a ripple effect.” She realized, over those months, that she was stuck in an all-or-nothing mindset when it came to exercise. She decided to do two-minute exercises whenever she could, and she slowly began to feel empowered about her health.
“It just blew my mind how this different mindset was making such a difference to the way I felt,” Lizzy said. Her own success inspired her to write Two-Minute Moves, a practical guide for finding more energy and a compilation of over 50 short and easy workouts to fit into a busy day.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
The Sedentary Lifestyle Brought on by COVID
“Since COVID, we’ve reduced our physical activity by an average of 32%, but we’ve increased our screen time by 38%. Before COVID anyway, we were sitting there with so much work to do and it was just go, go, go, go. But with COVID, we’ve added back-to-back meetings, often working from home, so we’ve got less incidental exercise. So that means we used to get up and go and see a colleague and go to a meeting somewhere. Or even the commute — we’d often just have to get out of the car and walk somewhere.”
“Our movement is now limited because we’re so often on these virtual video calls, and we have to stay in this one position so we can be seen on the video. There’s an expectation now that when we’re working remotely, the boundaries are all a bit blurred. Our brains don’t respond best to that kind of work, but it’s very much what we conditioned ourselves to.”
COVID and Mental Health
“Many of us are suffering with our mental health more than we were. One-third of people have reported that, since COVID, their mental health has suffered. And so when you’re not feeling very good as well, I know from my own experience, that makes it harder often to actually be motivated, to be physically active, to have little moments of self-care in your day. Also, when you’re feeling a bit more disconnected from everybody, then that has a negative impact on the way you feel, which then has a negative impact on how much you put your oxygen mask on, or decide to take action for yourself.”
Get Up and Get Moving
“The brain is built to detect and respond to change. It’s not built to have a task that goes on for hours and hours. So one of the best things you can do, studies have shown, is to take a brief mental break. One of the best ways to do that is to look away from the computer, do a few stretches, that type of thing. And then when you get back to your task, you’re able to focus better and for longer periods of time.”
“And what happens when that oxygen starts flowing to your brain? We’ve got this little thing in our brain called BDNF, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. When we are physically active, that hormone allows our brain cells to talk more effectively to each other. It’s like a fertilizer for your brain. And because you’ve got your body moving, you’ve increased your creative output by 60%, according to a study at Stanford University, and those creative juices continue to flow.”
Switching up the Schedule
“We’re naturally inclined to be sedentary. And when I talk to [people], I tell them to choose one time in your day that you are going to disrupt your sedentary seating. Everyone tends to say ‘every half hour or every hour, I’m going to do it. I’m going to commit to this.’ But I think what happens when we set these big goals and these big expectations is that your alarm goes off at every hour, but you’re in the middle of an email, and you think, ‘I’ll do that later.’ And then your alarm goes off for the next half hour and you’re in the middle of the meeting and it doesn’t work for you. These little alarms are so easy to ignore, right? So instead, just start with one time in your day.”
Knowing You Can
“Businesses should give employees permission to take a couple of minutes out of their day to actually look after themselves. I think that is just such a huge deal to get that leadership buy-in. I always say to leaders and HR, let’s give everybody a really good case of why this is so important. Some people really love to hear the stats of the research. And it’s such a nice way for them to show that they care about everyone.”
Caring For Yourself First
“I think, as a team member, it’s critical to be able to bring our best selves to work, to be able to have that energy and that motivation, to be able to really give something extra to our colleagues, to our clients, our customers, to each other. Movement is just a piece of the pie. There’s sleep. There’s good food. But if you can get movement and physical activity into that pie, it really does help when it comes to giving to others as well.”
LEARN MORE
Lizzy Williamson is the founder and author of Two Minute Moves. To connect with Lizzy and learn more about the work she’s doing, head over to her website, twominutemoves.com or find her on LinkedIn or Instagram.