Stay Healthy by Standing, Moving at Work

You guys have heard me talking about my early lifelong love of activity and sports like skateboarding, skiing, football, and even going to college on a soccer scholarship. Coming from an athletic background, I always considered myself pretty active. Yet, the truth is, once I started building my photography career in action sports I put my entire focus in that and the majority of my movement came from my work.

Even though my career is based in action sports photography — I climbed mountains on several continents, was up early, to bed late and generally active when shooting — only a very small portion of the work of photographers requires us to be shooting. There’s a lot of time spent in travel, post production, in client meetings, retouching images, or developing new concepts at a desk. Even when I was on location, what we’re doing is hardly ergonomic. I was bracing the Nikon D–whatever top of the line camera with a long lens out in front of me for about 10 years. Imagine the toll.

The result? As much as I visualize myself being bulletproof and battle-hardened, the reality is that I’ve broken many bones, had several surgeries, etc etc, and overall – from bad mechanics — earned screwed up neck, back and, shoulders that I’m working to unwind to this day. Don’t get me wrong – I’m healthy and athletic – but compromised. And what I’ve learned is daily choices in moving, standing, and body work (i.e. stretching, massage, etc) can make a huge difference every day. Simply standing while working, taking the stairs vs. elevator, walking instead of riding are just a few examples can significantly improve your body’s positioning which leads to better health which leads to better creativity.

So, in short, YES – MOVING MY BODY is a key part of my morning routine and daily habits. But in this episode of #cjRAW we dig in a bit deeper and I give you 4 changes you can make in your life today.

I’ve also got a guest star in this video…a guru of sorts… Introducing Dr. Kelly Starrett. And of course his new book…. DESKBOUND.

What’s Covered

On the move [0:32] The Problem [1:09] Body Mechanics [1:38] What we can change [2:46] The Solution [3:34] Kelly & Juliet Starrett’s Deskbound [4:15] Four things you can do [5:54] Maintaining Your Body with Kelly Starrett [7:01]