Nike has a great campaign that says: “Just do it.” I think seated professionals should start on a new campaign called “Just Get Moving!”

The plain reality is that we usually work all day sitting in a chair, drive home sitting in our car, eat dinner in a seated position and often, either sit in front of a computer or lay down watching a TV screen for much of the evening!

Simply being more active is a first step in a direction towards better health and fitness.

To begin with, park your car farther away than normal and take some extra steps to get to where you’re going! If you did park close, kick up your pace a bit and walk fast instead. Take the stairs instead of the elevator; better yet, walk up the escalator if you can’t find the stairs. Look for “exercising opportunities” to be more active. It can really add up over the days, weeks, and years.

If you are not used to exercising routinely begin walking gradually. Promise yourself you’ll only go out for about 15-20 minutes. (You’ll see that once you’re out, 20 minutes will seem too short!) My girlfriend Kathy said to me the other day, “I used to think I needed to make time to go on the Stairmaster®. Now, if I have just 20 minutes, I’ll jump on and get it done. I feel better afterwards.” The same idea can be used for walking. Exercising for your body and mind doesn’t have to be an Olympic event. Just do it-get moving.

I know…you’re giving me excuses already! But here’s the real deal: make exercising the excuse that will convince you that you want a higher level of health. Make health the reason to walk farther, step more frequently and stand with better posture. Set a date with yourself to exercise. Have it be “your time.” Better yet, find an activity that you like or can do with others.

So what’s holding you back? We are all tired, sometimes, may not feel like moving, sometimes, and just don’t want to, sometimes! OK,as long as your excuses are only sometimes! Just make it a point to move and be active most of the time! It’s your choice to be active or inactive. The interesting thing is that you know better; you’ve read about exercising in every magazine and the best selling books are diet and exercise related. What I’m proselytizing is this: what you do makes all the difference, not what you say you’ll do!

The benefits of exercise include: bone strengthening (which inhibits osteoporosis), improved heart and lung function, better muscle tone (which assists with posture and positioning), increased physical stamina, enhanced mental acuity, and more than everything else, a greater sense of self that can only be achieved from “doing the work.” You feel better about yourself after exercising!

Get moving. If you choose not to then that is your choice, but accept the consequences. Here is the kicker, however, when your back aches from sitting poorly, you aren’t sleeping restfully at night, you feel more agitated than you should be, or you just can’t seem to keep your weight in check, know that exercise might be the golden ticket that can cure these troubles.

Exercise is a choice. The good news is that it need not be vigorous to reap the benefits.

So, go ahead and do it- “Just get moving!”