Exercise Right Month 2025: Who moves you?

This year for Exercise Right Month, we’ve been asked a simple question: Who moves you? Calum, our Lead Exercise Physiologist answers the question:

“It’s a great question. It makes me think—not just about why we exercise, but who we want to be able to show up for. For me, it’s the people in my life. My partner. My family. My mates. My colleagues and the beautiful clients I work with every day. I move so I can keep showing up for them—not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and ideally with a bit of energy left over to dance around and make them smile.

I’ve gone through patchy relationships with movement over the years. A while back, I had a serious flare-up in my lower back that really knocked me around, to the point of considering a surgical review based on scans I received. I wasn’t sleeping much, wasn’t moving much, and honestly—I wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around. I was sore, frustrated, and way too in my own head about it. I’d love to say I handled it all with calm and wisdom, but the reality looked more like lying on the floor, over-stretching, and googling things to see who I could see to fix me. Not exactly my proudest moment.

Unfortunately for the story, there was no big epiphany or miracle fix – but I was fortunate to have the education, and theoretical understanding I have so I leaned into it and started moving again, bit by bit. Some days it was a walk, other days it was just doing something to remind myself I wasn’t made of glass. And slowly, things shifted. I started feeling more like myself again.

Now, I get to work with people who are navigating their own version of that. People who don’t see themselves as “exercisers,” or don’t believe their body is built for exercise anymore. People who avoid movement, or who feel like they’ve left it too late to start. And what amazes me again and again is how little they need to do to start feeling better.

The research says it. My clients prove it.

To be honest, working with them has completely changed the way I view exercise. It’s not about chasing performance. It’s not about punishment. It’s not about trying to look like the AI-generated fitness coach Instagram keeps serving me ads for. It’s about feeling good. And that’s what moves me now.

I always say to clients: I don’t exercise for what’s below my shoulders – I exercise for what’s above my shoulders. It keeps me sane. It makes my thoughts clearer. It helps me sleep. It makes me happier. And I’m pretty sure it makes me a slightly nicer human being.

Exercise lets me show up as the version of myself I actually want to be—the one who’s present, clear, calm, and capable of lifting moderately heavy things without groaning.

So if you’re thinking about moving more this May, I just want to say this: keep it simple. Move because it makes your day better. Move because it helps you show up for the people you care about. Move because it helps you feel like you.

And if you’re not sure where to start, that’s okay too. Reach out to someone who can help. That’s what we’re here for.

Thanks for reading. I hope it encourages you to find your reason to move—whatever that looks like.

Author: Calum Edsor, Exercise Physiology Lead, Hiya Health Ipswich

Calum Edsor

Exercise Physiologist

View Calum Edsor’s profile