How to stay active? Try the ‘random walk’

When you’re frugalmatic, you’re getting stuff done while being physically active. Frugalmatic superstars include biking to work and mowing the lawn. But what if you can’t do (or just don’t feel like doing) a superstar task? How do you stay active? How do you avoid prolonged sitting? One option is the “random walk.”

Random walks are ideal for those times when you’re most vulnerable to sitting for long periods, such as after dinner or when you’re feeling bored and tempted to sink deep into the sofa to watch TV or scroll the smartphone.

With the random walk, you focus on doing physical tasks, essentially mimicking how people used their bodies before technology evolved to eliminate many labor-intensive responsibilities (think robotic vacuum and online shopping). I’m not saying to start churning butter (though if you do, let me know how it goes), but you should feel free to push back against today’s hyper-convenient ways. Keep in mind, our DNA hasn’t evolved as quickly as technology. It’s still programmed for us to be physically active, like people often were into the early 20th century. When we’re inactive, that’s when the health problems start. Modern technology, for all its wonders, is a mismatch with our DNA. To avoid a sedentary fate in the 21st century, you have to be intentional and mindful about being active.

Two factors to consider in striving to sit less

From a health standpoint, there are two factors to consider when trying to stay active. The first concern is the total amount of time you sit. Studies have shown a correlation between mortality rates and activity levels. Active people live longer as a general rule. Active people are also often better able to manage their weight because they burn a lot of calories through non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, movement. NEAT describes the energy we expend doing everyday activities except exercise.

Another factor to consider is the length of time you sit without taking breaks. One study examined health outcomes for people who sat the same total amount during the day, with the only difference being one group sat for shorter blocks of time. The study found that “breakers” had smaller waistlines, about six centimeters, than the “prolongers.” The lesson is that it’s not just about how much you sit but about how frequently you take breaks from sitting.

The random walk can both increase your NEAT levels and prevent prolonged sitting.  

To be clear, I’m not saying random walks should take the place of exercise. I enjoy exercise, and I get my best workouts by shooting baskets in the driveway. However, this activity lasts less than an hour. So, shooting baskets isn’t an effective way to avoid prolonged sitting. Indeed, studies show people who exercise a lot but otherwise spend a lot of time sitting are still at risk for sedentary-related diseases.

How the random walk works

One of the best times to embark on a random walk is during a lull in your schedule, such as in the evenings or on the weekend. By “random,” I mean just that. Whatever helps you stay active, do it—whether creating something or maintaining something. These tasks should be small, lasting a couple hours at most, and require minimal planning. They should also be trivial enough to allow you to tackle them in the moment, often with supplies on hand or with a quick trip to the hardware store. The random walk is not the time to attempt to install new windows, build a new deck, or renovate the bathroom (unless you’re the type that can do that kind of stuff on the fly).

Here’s a snapshot of four tasks I did not too long ago as part of a random walk. I picked them simply as a result of strolling through our house and around the yard: repairing a handle on a bike, replacing a couple rotten boards on a playground set, gluing a loose part on a chair, and raking some leaves.

Embrace the ‘double-back’

None of these tasks broke a sweat, though they all required some movement, including the time spent moving through the house to gather tools and supplies. Some of these tasks also involved “double-backing,” which happens when you leave one location of your house only to have to return to that location later, usually to retrieve a different tool, new supplies, or something else you either forgot to grab or didn’t realize you needed (Learn more about the benefits of “double-backing” by signing up for my free Starter Kit). I used to get irritated whenever I had to “double-back,” but now I (mostly) embrace it. Oddly enough, the less foresight you put into your random walk, the more physical exertion it often requires.

For me, efficiency isn’t the top priority of a random walk—engaging in physical activity is. After all, there’s nothing special about repairing a bike handle, raking leaves, replacing a couple rotten boards, or gluing a loose part on a chair. So I’ll spare you the details. Undertaking a random walk is much easier if you’re not under pressure to actually accomplish something significant. In fact, the more laid-back the random walk is, the better. If the stakes get too high, your mind might focus less on being physical and more on the task itself.

Ultimately, what gives the random walk its power is the motivation for doing it. It’s not what you do that matters but how you do it—by moving. Over the course of many random walks you can shift from a sedentary to an active lifestyle. Raking leaves in itself doesn’t make for an active lifestyle, but doing a bunch of other light activities along with raking leaves—and doing them consistently—helps form an active lifestyle, or at least a more active one.

To stay active, rediscover your ‘antsy self’

With the random walk, strive to rediscover that long-lost “antsy self.” If you’re wondering what that looks like, observe a child for a while. In fact, if you’re not sure what to do on your random walk and have small children in your home, simply follow them. Do what they’re doing (so long as they’re not in front of a screen), and you’ll likely go all over the place. You might notice, too, that some little kids squat instead of sit, placing their weight on their feet as they play close to the ground. Have you tried replacing sitting with squatting? It’s not an easy position to stay in.

Many kids begin to lose their “antsy self” when they start school and enter a traditional classroom setting, where a premium is placed on staying in your seat. Sitting becomes a default position from elementary school through college. After that, many adults sit for hours at their jobs and then spend much of their leisure time at home sitting in front of screens. For many adults, the original “antsy self” has been largely extinguished by the time they start a family.

The seeds for a sedentary lifestyle are planted very young and without most of us consciously realizing it. We’re not born sedentary beings—we’re taught to become sedentary and carry those habits into adulthood. You don’t need a study (though many studies have been done) to know sedentary lifestyles are unhealthy. You can see how people, as they age, steadily slip into a sedentary trap that becomes difficult to escape: Sitting begets more sitting, which begets more sitting.

Exercise equipment and gym memberships not required

Fortunately, to get out of that kind of rut, you don’t need a special piece of exercise equipment, or a pill, or a diet. You don’t need a gym membership or a personal trainer. There’s just one thing to do: Get up. Start moving. Create your own random walk. I don’t know where it will take you, but it doesn’t matter.

If you’re staying physically active, you are where you need to be.