How To Sneak More Movement Into Your Daily 9-5 Routine

Will my 9-5 girlies please stand up? Have you ever counted the number of steps that you accumulated during work hours? I have and I am convinced that having a 9-5 is the opposition for your overall health and wellness. You sit in a chair, eyes glued to the screen and body chained to the desk. Coffee and tea breaks and going to the bathroom are the only times you remember to get up. Lunchtime is barely enough for both eating and walking. For 8 hours of a day, you are in a simulation where your body and mind is fixated on what is happening on the screen. Recently, I’m learning how to sneak more movement in during the work week. Although it is not perfect, it stops my hip flexors from tightness and weakening.

You can spend multiple times a week training for just over two hours and yet spend an overwhelming amount of your time sitting. Life has become more sedentary than it used to be. We spend a majority of our time in a seated or reclined position watching TV, reading, commuting etc. The list is endless. If we truly want to maximise the work that we are doing in the gym, it’s more important to improve outside of those four walls.

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The Catalyst

This year I want to be more intentional about moving my body more than I have in the last five years. From the pandemic to early 2025, I was a 100% remote. I got really bored with my environment. This led me to go to the office once a week for a change of scenery and to get some steps in. Quickly, I realised that other than commuting, I wasn’t really moving as much as I thought. I was still very sedentary. Fast forward to mid-2025, I became a hybrid worker yet the majority of my movement came from training before work. Eventually, I began to play around with my time during my 9-5 and I think I have found the secret to sneak more movement in the workplace.

Sneak More Movement Into Your Daily 9-5 Routine

To sneak more movement into your daily 9-5 routine starts with being more intentional about those hours. About a year and a half ago, I shared that I like to work in 90 minutes sprints. During those sprints, I focus on a task or two without any interruptions and distractions. Then I would go on a break for 20 to 30 minutes to clear my mind before starting a new task.

Since switching to hybrid, I brought that concept to work. It gets me away from my desk at least three times a day not including my lunch break. During those breaks, I’m either eating (because it’s surplus season) or I’m walking in the park for some fresh air. Getting away from your desk doesn’t have to be this arduous thing. I feel like getting fifty or a hundred steps is better than nothing. I’d recommend trying this out to see if it works for you.

Take Regular Breaks From The Screen

There are breaks between my 90 minutes sprints and then there are micro breaks. A lot of us feel intimidated to take micro breaks whilst working and it shouldn’t be the case. I look at micro breaks as cigarette breaks. There are a lot of smokers in my office and they take breaks very frequently for a puff or two. Taking regular breaks to sneak more movement in and give my eyes a rest is the same as a cigarette break. I take that opportunity to walk to the water cooler, another floor or the front desk just to stretch out my legs. Again it may not seem like much, but these small breaks add up. They are going to help you get stronger in the gym by reducing your stress and boosting your immune system.

Rule Out Convenience To Sneak More Movement In

If you haven’t read Atomic Habits by James Clear, I need you to add that to your 2026 book list. This book is going to help you…I don’t want to say transform your life, but it will help you transform the way you view habits. One of the things that he talks about is convenience. We are most likely to do something if it’s convenient and less likely if it’s not. Convenience in the workplace can look like placing a water bottle on your desk to stay hydrated throughout the day. This is where the magic happens, when you are developing a new habit.

Moreover, this concept works when we are trying to break bad habits. We have to make them inconvenient so that it is more difficult to do it impulsively. I have a colleague at work who has convinced herself that the lifts (elevators) are broken in the building. This forces her to take the stairs whenever she wants to go to the kitchen. That is what inconvenience looks like for her. In order to get to her food, she needs to walk towards it. This is going to be difficult for most of us but you have to rule convenience out if you want to sneak more movement in your daily 9-5 routine.

Breaking this habit of convenience whether it is taking the stairs instead of the lift or walking to the train station instead of taking the metro is empowering. You have made the decision that your health and wellness is the priority. By making it easier to do the things that serve you and making it harder for the things that don’t, is sculpting the story of the person that you are becoming.

Make Walking A Pre-requisite to Daily Activities

It’s no secret that I love training first thing in the morning whilst the rest of the world is sleeping. Public transport doesn’t run at the time that I go to the gym. Therefore I walk to the gym. By the time I get there, I’ve already hit 2K steps. Taking into account my movement around the gym including my 20 minutes cardio, which is incline walking at the moment, and heading home, I’ve achieved a win. That win is 7.5K steps before 7:15 am in the morning.

Everyone can get at least 6K to 7K steps with ease by making a pre-requisite to the activities that you already do. James Clear calls this habit stacking. This means that you attach a new habit to an existing habit. For example, Wednesdays and Thursdays are heavy meeting days for me and most of the time, I’m just listening. If, by chance, I’m in the office on those days I opt to listen to the meetings at my standing desk. I take the opportunity to do some calf raises and stand for a while. If I’m at home, I plug in my headphones and stroll around my apartment. I can rack up 500 to 1K steps per meeting. This is habit stacking – I’m attaching a new habit (standing or strolling) to an existing habit (my meetings).

I do understand that some of you may not work in walkable cities or areas. This means that you have to be a little bit more creative to sneak more movement in. Whether this means walking while brushing your teeth or while listening to a podcast, you can find a way. I believe in you.

Get A Standing Desk If Possible

Some offices may have standing desks and others may not. If you have the opportunity to ‘book’ a standing desk, I’d recommend booking one. I find that working while standing for at least 90 minutes is beneficial for your health and wellness. For one it encourages your muscles, especially the cores and leg muscles to be more engaged. In addition, it reduces all the risks and negative effects that come with prolonged sitting i.e. tightness in the hips and pelvis.

For those of you who don’t have standing desks, some lifters that I follow online have foldable walking pads under their desks at home. I’ve never tried it myself but it is going to make your lifestyle less sedentary. They are expensive as it is more popular to have them at home. Fortunately, I have found one that is currently on sale and can easily be stored away at Revomadic. I haven’t personally vetted this product, but it looks like something I would try if I ever needed one at home.

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What do you think about the 10K steps a day concept? I didn’t think it possible until I started making these changes into my routine. I hope this post will help you live a less sedentary lifestyle in 2026. Make sure to hit that subscribe button to join the community and never miss out on a post. Find me on Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok for more powerlifting and wellness content.

Until next time,

Folakemi