Built to Move: The Sunday Times Bestseller

Movement is putting your body in motion by way of stepping, bending, crouching, shifting your weight, reaching, pushing, pulling, even fidgeting. It’s a combination of functional actions that keeps everything, joints to digestive system, in good working order. We all move in some way every day, yet most of us don’t move enough or in all the ways we

Your ultimate goal here is to work up to sitting on the floor at least thirty cumulative minutes a day, every day. Start where you’re at and work up to thirty. Again, use the back of a couch or a chair or a wall for support if you need to. If five minutes feels like all you can do, there’s your starting point. Begin with five minutes in position 1.

Sitting on the floor in a few different shapes is all that’s required of you here. You can lean lightly against the back of a couch or a chair or against a wall for support (ideally working toward moving away from any props), and you don’t have to stay in one position on the floor. Earlier

The Test Stand next to a wall or steady piece of furniture if you think you will need help. From there, cross one foot in front of the other and sit down on the floor into a cross-legged position without holding on to anything (unless you feel very unsteady). Now, from the same cross-legged position, rise up off the floor, if possible, without plac

The program in this book—and our life’s work—addresses this whole network of movement components. Harnessing its power will help you achieve agility, ease, and quickness of step while vanquishing restriction, rigidity, and pain.

There’s a sneaky way to get a more robust position in your chair by adjusting its height (this only works with chairs that have rollers at the base). Set the height of your chair higher than usual, then see if you can get enough purchase with your feet to scoot the chair back and forth. When your chair is set high, it’s hard to powerfully move the

Sometimes it’s all we can do to sit on the floor while we watch a movie (stay tuned to learn why this seemingly passive activity enhances mobility), eat three vegetables, and get a good night’s sleep.

Lie facedown on the floor atop a roller or larger ball (like a volleyball) placed just below your ribs and pressing on your abdomen, arms in front of you. Inhale through your nose for four seconds and hold your breath for four seconds, while contracting your abdominals. Then exhale for five or more seconds as you relax your trunk. Take a big breath

What Your Results Mean The number of seconds you held your breath is your score. Below 10 seconds—Your CO2 tolerance is way below normal; you’ll need to work to catch up. 10–20 seconds—This is a good starting place, but you’ll need to grow your ability to deal with discomfort. 20–30 seconds—Getting close to what is considered normal. 30–40 seconds—