8 Ways To Prevent 'Sitting Disease'
Consider how much you sit
in a day: driving to an 8-hour-a-day desk job, and then unwinding on the settee
watching television all night. In
addition, do you depend on email, cell phone apps, direct-deposit paychecks,
and online shopping to complete tasks that 20 years ago would have been
compulsory for you to get up and go? Or do you work at home which prevents you
from going out much, or little space to walk from A to Z?
If so, then you may have ‘sitting disease,’ which is defined as a sedentary
lifestyle that might be putting your health at risk.
Too much sitting is unhealthy
Studies have shown that extended periods of physical inactivity
raise your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. In
addition, each hour spent watching TV is linked to an 18% increase in the risk
of dying from heart disease, since those hours are spent sitting down.
As human beings, we are created to walk and discover the world on
our feet, not crumbled in a chair for hours. That is physical trap. Experts
advise you can prevent sitting disease by taking steps to be more active physically.
If your work is a desk job, there are ways to get on your feet during the day
1. Do non-exercise activities. Aim for
10 minutes per hour of non-exercise activities that include stretching,
turning, and bending. Not being able to afford gym membership should no longer
be an excuse. You can achieve health benefits by moving for short time but more
often. Stretch out your entire body to relax tight muscles. If done six times a
day, the difference will soon be obvious.
2. Make the most of lunchtime to move. If you’re able to sneak in a one hour workout during office
hours, it’s better than nothing, though that still leaves several hours of
sitting during the workday. So it’s crucial to have an entire day approach to activity.
For instance go for a walk at lunch instead of taking a nap or chatting, use the
stairs instead of the elevator or lift.
3. Get up more to run errands. Get up
to run errands rather than use the phone or email. For instance if you have a question for your
co-worker on the other side of the office, walk down to his cubicle and have a
one-on-one discussion. Another good idea to get employees on their feet
frequently is to set an email free day. Some companies are already establishing
Fridays as an email free day.
4. Stand up more. Being on
your feet uses more muscles and burns more calories than sitting. So, get into
the habit of standing anytime you talk on the telephone, or pace to stretch
your legs during meetings’ tea breaks.
5. Encourage physical activity in the office. If you’re lucky your company has a gym, great. Make the most of
it. Otherwise look for other options to trigger a movement. For example you can
have walk-and-talk meetings with your co-workers outside the conference room. You
can move trash cans away from cubicles and relocate water dispensers to tea
rooms, so people have to walk out to throw out dirt or to take water.
6. Put an end to afternoon drowsiness. Normally between 3-4 p.m. drowsiness or general inertia rears its
head. You can prevent this if you take a 20 minutes’ walk during lunch break,
which helps improve your productive level in your last hours at work. If you
don’t have time for a walk, stand up and pace up and down for 5 minutes to
clear your head. That should do the magic and bring back the zing.
7. Reconsider your means of travel. If you take a bus or train to work, you can stand up while
riding; or do exercises, like clenching and relaxing your muscles; or you can
get off a stop early and walk the rest. If public transport isn’t on the card,
locate a distant car park so you can walk for a few minutes before and after work.
8. Build in activities while watching TV. If you have a treadmill, place it in front of the television, and allow yourself to watch
only when you're walking. If you don’t have exercise equipment, do jumping
jacks, march on the spot, or tidy the room. Just don't sit for too long.
Research shows that the longer the hours you sit watching television, the
greater your waist circumference, and the higher your risk of dying from
cardiovascular disease.
Photo Credit: Creative Commons
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