It is that, but that’s all. I’ve realised lately that it really isn’t enough.
Until earlier this year I was cycling about 15kms a day in the natural course of going to work, and climbing perhaps 30 flights of stairs a day in the natural course of living on the 3rd floor. Then I moved house, and I no longer do either.
I do, however, still walk a decent amount on the flat. My phone says I average about 7km/day (near enough 10,000 steps).
It’s not enough. It’s taken me a while to realise it, but I’m pretty sure that my current lower back issues are basically a result of stopping the cycling & stairs. I can’t prove it of course, but it makes a lot of sense. All of my glute/hamstring strength has just gone.
Starting tomorrow I’m forcing myself to ride about 15kms a day (~5 days/week), with some sort of an incline in there. I’m lucky that I enjoy this; I was luckier when it just happened as part of my day without me thinking about it. Making myself do it is going to be a lot harder. I need to figure out a way to “science the shit out of it” so I can at least gain motivation from the fact that it works (assuming that it does).
What's important is consistently moving. That means getting up from the desk every hour for a 5 minute walk or some stretching. Switching between standing and sitting at a desk is a first step in the right direction but really we need to be moving.
This gets almost completely ignored at most desk jobs but now that many people can work from home, the opportunity to get into the right routine presents itself.
Yeah, that's it. At least when it comes to overall health (I'm not sure about back issues).
I did a little bit of research on this theme myself and it seems that the key is to interrupt periods of prolonged sitting with any movement (even walking helps) for any period of time (even 1 minute helps). The more intensive/longer the better, obviously.
See also notes from my web-research at http://mnicky.wikidot.com/healthy-programmer (it's based on the book that got me started on this topic, but e.g. in Section 3 there's some additional reading about benefits of making pauses when sitting for a longer time and similar research).
Btw, using standing desk for prolonged time can be harmful as well, the truth is even more than sitting :) So yes, combine standing and sitting, but stand only for a shorter time (after 30min it starts to have negative effects).
If you stay in one position on the bike, and bike for a long time (hour+), it's probably worse for your back. But if you switch positions, you can find some nice stretches sometimes. Depending on the terrain, you might have to specifically remember to stretch your back while you're on the bike.
PhysicL therapist showed me a few basic stretches that helped. YouTube helped fix decades of problems.
Most important is to find something you can make into a lasting habit (for years). Otherwise you will end like most people with dieting do.
Is it? Is 1h of strenuous exercise at a time and sittimg the rest of the day not better than getting up every hour and doing some simple stretches or just walking around? Not trying to be argumentative, I honestly don't know.
However, I’m not sure how we arrived at a situation where people are recommending deadlifts as the go-to exercise for people who want to maintain fitness. Experienced weightlifters and coaches generally won’t recommend that beginners focus on deadlifts, like you said.
We shouldn’t be making fitness sound so complicated or setting the bar so high. No one needs to be doing deadlifts to get into shape. Frankly, most sedentary people need to focus on small, achievable, and enjoyable fitness goals to start. Simply going for a 15-minute walk every day is a step in the right direction for beginners. Going to the gym is great if that’s your thing, but doing a handful of push-ups and stretches at home is also great for someone looking to get started.
The Internet has been great for disseminating fitness information and generating enthusiasm for exercise, but this trend of recommending advanced exercises and over the top workout programs like CrossFit to beginners has probably done just as much harm as good. We shouldn’t be making fitness sound like some complicated, difficult goal.