Our bodies were designed for regular movement. Our ancestors walked, ran, climbed, swam and hunted, and only spent time sitting in one place. They left the African savannah a few hundred years ago and, without any technology or protection, ventured to every last corner of the Earth, exposing themselves to the coldest and hottest regions, crossing mountains and oceans, overcoming ice ages and droughts, boycotts, extermination, fearsome creatures and just about every obstacle nature threw their way. The only thing they didn’t do was sit in front of a screen all day.
Every part of our bodies is designed for movement. Our legs have the largest number of complex muscles that perform amazing feats of engineering, not only allowing us to balance on two legs, but enabling us to walk, run, jump and even stand on one leg.
When we're moving, our hearts beat faster, pumping more blood to our extremities; we engage our brains more as we take in new input, and we use more of our muscles, which we know is the 'use it or lose it' principle. There's no part of our evolutionary history that requires us to sit on our hunches all day long (though sitting upright on the floor is still better than sitting in a chair, since this position stretches all of our muscles).
Movement is so important to both our minds and bodies that it almost doesn't matter how you do it. Sure, you can do a very fancy training routine for specific aesthetic or performance goals, but don't underestimate the positive impact of just standing up
and walking.
