Are You Moving Enough to Keep Things Moving?

Movement is good for the body.

Movement Matters: Keeping The Body Capable

Why small movements throughout the day may be doing more for your body than you realize.

We often think of exercise as something we do to strengthen our muscles, improve our cardiovascular fitness, maintain our weight, or preserve our mobility as we grow older. We might enjoy walking through the autumn leaves, dancing to a favourite song, attending an indoor exercise class, or working with light weights at home. These are all worthwhile activities, but there is another reason to move regularly, one that receives considerably less attention and becomes particularly interesting as we enter sniffle season. Some of the body's important transport processes are influenced by the movements we make throughout the day, including movements so ordinary that we rarely give them a second thought.

Consider how much time we spend sitting. We sit while eating breakfast, driving to work, answering emails, reading, watching television, and relaxing in the evening. Even when we consider ourselves reasonably active, there may be long periods when most of our muscles are doing very little. A person might enjoy a vigorous morning walk and then spend the greater part of the day seated, believing that their exercise requirements have been taken care of until tomorrow. The walk has certainly provided valuable benefits, but the body continues responding to movement, and the absence of movement, throughout the remaining hours.

What happens within our tissues during those long periods of stillness, and what changes when we begin moving again?

A Circulation System You May Not Think About

Most of us are familiar with the cardiovascular system. The heart pumps blood through an extensive network of vessels, delivering oxygen and nutrients to our tissues while carrying carbon dioxide and other substances away for further processing. But there is another transport network throughout the body called the lymphatic system, and understanding how it functions gives us an entirely different appreciation for everyday movement.

As blood circulates through tiny vessels called capillaries, fluid continually moves between the bloodstream and the spaces surrounding our cells. Much of this fluid returns directly to the blood vessels, while the lymphatic system collects much of the remaining fluid and eventually returns it to the bloodstream. This helps maintain the normal balance of fluid within our tissues. Along the way, lymph also transports proteins and other substances, while lymph nodes provide locations where immune cells can examine material arriving from surrounding areas.

There is something particularly interesting about the way our lymphatic system moves fluid. Unlike the cardiovascular system, which has the heart as its central pump, the lymphatic system has no single pumping organ. However, many of its larger collecting vessels contain smooth muscle that contracts rhythmically, helping move lymph through a series of small chambers equipped with one-way valves. These chambers, called lymphangions, act as tiny individual pumps throughout the network.

Our own movements provide additional assistance. When we walk, stretch, contract our muscles, or breathe, the changing pressures in surrounding tissues can help encourage lymph to travel through its vessels. So while our lymphatic system is continually working even when we're resting, regular movement gives it another valuable source of support.

Now consider what happens when we take a walk. Every step involves a sequence of muscular contractions. Our calves tighten and release, our ankles bend, our thighs engage, and our breathing changes with the activity. These actions create mechanical forces within the surrounding tissues, helping move blood through the veins and contributing to lymphatic transport.

Our muscles are not merely carrying us from one place to another. Their contractions are also helping create the physical conditions that encourage fluids to move through our tissues.

And this brings us to an interesting question: if movement is involved in these processes, why do we so often confine our exercise to one particular part of the day?

Your Muscles Have Something to Say, Even When You're Not Exercising

There is another fascinating discovery about skeletal muscle that deserves attention. For many years, muscles were largely discussed in terms of their ability to produce movement, maintain posture, and use energy. We now understand that active skeletal muscle is also involved in chemical communication with other tissues.

When muscles contract, they can produce and release signalling substances known as myokines. These chemical messengers participate in communication between muscles and other parts of the body, including tissues involved in metabolism, inflammatory regulation, and energy balance. Their activity depends on the type, duration, and intensity of muscular work, as well as the individual's physical condition.

Think about what this means. A muscular contraction is not merely a mechanical event. It can also be part of a much larger conversation taking place within the body.

Some muscle-derived signals are involved in glucose regulation, while others participate in the processes that help the body adapt to regular physical activity. This helps explain why movement can influence our health in ways that extend considerably beyond the number of calories we burn. Our muscles participate in maintaining the internal conditions that allow many different systems to function.

This does not mean that standing up and stretching once will produce the same effects as regular cardiovascular or strengthening exercise. Different forms of movement offer different benefits. However, it does encourage us to reconsider the value of those ordinary moments when we choose to get out of the chair, move our arms and legs, or walk across the room.

A day containing regular opportunities for movement offers something different from a day spent almost entirely sitting, even when both include the same morning exercise routine.

What Happens During All Those Hours of Sitting?

When we remain seated for extended periods, our larger muscle groups are relatively inactive. The calf muscles, which contribute to returning blood from the lower legs toward the heart, are particularly affected by prolonged stillness. Their contractions normally help compress veins, while valves within those veins assist the return of blood against gravity.

This is why our feet and lower legs may feel heavy or uncomfortable after a long drive or several hours in one position. Fluid movement is influenced by muscular activity, gravity, blood-vessel function, and other factors, and changing position or walking can often improve the sensation.

The lymphatic system also responds to mechanical forces created by movement and breathing. Its vessels continue their own internal pumping activity while the contractions of our muscles and the changing pressures associated with breathing provide additional support.

There is an important distinction here. We do not need to think of lymph as something that becomes stagnant every time we sit down, nor do we need to force it to move through elaborate routines. Our bodies are already maintaining fluid transport continuously. What regular movement offers is another way of supporting these natural processes, particularly when long periods of stillness have become part of our daily lives.

Consider someone who spends the morning at a computer, drives to an appointment, returns home to complete paperwork, and then sits down to watch television. They may have accomplished an enormous amount mentally, yet their larger muscle groups have spent much of the day relatively inactive.

Would it be possible to interrupt those periods of stillness with a minute or two of movement? Could we become accustomed to moving our ankles while reading, standing and stretching between tasks, or walking briefly around the house before sitting down again?

These small changes require very little preparation, but repeated throughout the day, they create regular opportunities for muscular activity.

What Does This Have to Do With Sniffle Season?

As the weather becomes colder, our daily movement patterns often change without our consciously deciding to change them. The daylight disappears earlier, damp autumn weather makes outdoor activities less appealing, and we spend more time in warm indoor environments. Activities that previously kept us moving throughout the day may gradually be replaced by longer periods of sitting.

At the same time, we enter a season when respiratory infections become more common, bringing renewed attention to our immune health.

Physical activity and immunity have a complex relationship. During and after exercise, changes occur in the movement and distribution of certain immune cells, including cells involved in identifying and responding to infected tissues. Regular physical activity is also associated with improvements in metabolic health and aspects of inflammatory regulation.

Another useful connection involves blood glucose. When skeletal muscles contract, they can increase their uptake of glucose through mechanisms that do not depend entirely on insulin. Regular activity therefore contributes to the body's ability to manage blood glucose and maintain metabolic flexibility. This becomes especially interesting when we consider how closely metabolic health and immune function are connected.

Our lymphatic system adds another dimension to the picture, helping transport fluid and material from tissues while providing pathways through which immune cells and immune-related information can travel.

None of these processes means that exercise creates an impenetrable defence against respiratory viruses. Rather, they demonstrate that movement participates in maintaining several of the systems involved in our overall health.

And as our surroundings encourage us to become less active, maintaining regular movement is one practical way to continue supporting those systems through autumn and winter.

A Few Minutes to Keep Things Moving

Let's put some of this knowledge into practice. These movements are intended for ordinary days when we are spending considerable time seated or indoors. They are gentle enough to fit between activities and require no exercise equipment.

The Seated Ankle Pump

Sit comfortably with both feet resting on the floor. Keeping your heels in contact with the ground, lift your toes toward your shins, then lower them. Next, lift your heels while keeping the balls of your feet on the floor. Continue alternating these movements for approximately twenty repetitions, allowing the calf and shin muscles to contract and relax.

This movement is especially useful after sitting for an extended period because the calf muscles contribute to venous circulation in the lower legs. The changing muscular pressure also provides mechanical movement within the surrounding tissues.

The Kitchen Counter Calf Raise

While waiting for the kettle to boil or preparing lunch, stand facing the kitchen counter and rest your hands lightly on it for balance. With your feet comfortably apart, slowly rise onto the balls of your feet, pause briefly, and lower your heels back to the floor. Repeat ten to fifteen times at an easy, controlled pace.

This movement engages the calf muscles more fully than seated ankle movements and can be repeated during the day whenever you have a comfortable, stable place to stand.

The Shoulder and Arm Release

Sit or stand with your back comfortably upright. Begin by slowly rolling your shoulders backward five times, allowing them to rise, move back, and settle naturally. Then extend your arms forward and gently open them out to the sides, as though you were opening a wide book. Return them to the front and repeat five to ten times, keeping the movement comfortable.

These actions engage muscles around the shoulders, chest, and upper back, providing an opportunity to change position after prolonged computer work or reading. They can also help remind us how often we hold the upper body in one restricted position.

Breathing With Movement

Sit comfortably with your feet supported and place your hands around the lower portion of your rib cage. Allow yourself to breathe gently through the nose if comfortable, noticing the movement of your ribs as you inhale. As you exhale, let your shoulders soften and your chest settle without forcing the breath. Continue for five or six relaxed breathing cycles.

The diaphragm changes pressure within the chest and abdomen as we breathe, contributing to both venous and lymphatic fluid movement. This exercise provides an opportunity to become more aware of that natural movement without turning breathing into something strenuous.

These movements can be used individually or together. They are not intended to replace walking, strengthening exercises, or other physical activities that challenge our cardiovascular and muscular systems. Their value lies in providing regular muscular activity during parts of the day that might otherwise involve very little movement.

What Might Change If We Thought About Movement Differently?

There is something appealing about recognizing that movement does not have to begin with changing our clothes, setting aside an hour, or travelling to an exercise facility. We can certainly enjoy those activities, and regular purposeful exercise remains valuable, but the body also responds to what happens between them.

The muscles in our legs can help support venous return. Movement and breathing contribute to the mechanical forces involved in lymphatic transport. Active muscles release signalling substances that communicate with other tissues, and muscular contractions influence the way our bodies use glucose.

These are not dramatic events we can see taking place, but they help explain why prolonged inactivity and regular movement create different conditions within the body.

As we move through the damp, cooler days of late autumn and begin spending more time indoors, perhaps we could become more aware of how often we have been sitting and how comfortably we can introduce movement into those hours.

The next time you find yourself waiting for the kettle, finishing a telephone conversation, or rising from your favourite chair, consider giving your muscles a few extra moments of activity.

You may discover that keeping your body moving involves considerably more than going somewhere.