If you have an office job or sit for 8-10 hours each day and then sit again in your car on your drive to and from work, then sit again at home watching TV—you are sitting too long and it’s not good for your health.
What kind of problems develop if you sit too long each day? For one thing, you get back pains and issues. Sounds like a no brainer, right. However, it’s also been proven that sitting too much each day can be bad for your blood pressure and also increases the chances of obesity. Of course, another no brainer—so what should you do, especially if your day job requires you to sit all day long?
You definitely need to try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine—at least a few times a week. Although, you still need to do more because the few hours each week that you are exercising won’t balance out the high amount of hours that you are sitting. So, how else can you combat this issue?
Take a break during the day. Make sure you go out of your office for a lunch break—even if you bring your own lunch, get up and go for a walk or spend some time standing. Change positions throughout the day—when I was working at my day job, I used to spend some time standing at my desk. I would raise my computer keyboard up onto a box and stand at the computer while I worked. It really helped when I worked, especially since I had a long commute and would be in the car for a while every day.
I read an article, entitled, A Matter of Gravity: too much sitting can compromise your health, and it had some great suggestions on how to help your body as you sit and work each day in the office. According to Sara Daly (physical therapist), you should take breaks throughout the day and make sure to frequently change positions. If you’re on the phone, stand up and walk around. Make a point during the day to squeeze your shoulder blades together. Don’t forget to flex and point your ankles. You can remind yourself to stand up or change positions by setting a computer or phone alarm. If you don’t have an alarm, post notes on your computer to remind you or buddy up with a co-worker to help keep each other in line.
Do you have an office job or another job where you sit long hours each day? How do you handle that and do you think you need to make some changes?
What kind of problems develop if you sit too long each day? For one thing, you get back pains and issues. Sounds like a no brainer, right. However, it’s also been proven that sitting too much each day can be bad for your blood pressure and also increases the chances of obesity. Of course, another no brainer—so what should you do, especially if your day job requires you to sit all day long?
You definitely need to try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine—at least a few times a week. Although, you still need to do more because the few hours each week that you are exercising won’t balance out the high amount of hours that you are sitting. So, how else can you combat this issue?
Take a break during the day. Make sure you go out of your office for a lunch break—even if you bring your own lunch, get up and go for a walk or spend some time standing. Change positions throughout the day—when I was working at my day job, I used to spend some time standing at my desk. I would raise my computer keyboard up onto a box and stand at the computer while I worked. It really helped when I worked, especially since I had a long commute and would be in the car for a while every day.
I read an article, entitled, A Matter of Gravity: too much sitting can compromise your health, and it had some great suggestions on how to help your body as you sit and work each day in the office. According to Sara Daly (physical therapist), you should take breaks throughout the day and make sure to frequently change positions. If you’re on the phone, stand up and walk around. Make a point during the day to squeeze your shoulder blades together. Don’t forget to flex and point your ankles. You can remind yourself to stand up or change positions by setting a computer or phone alarm. If you don’t have an alarm, post notes on your computer to remind you or buddy up with a co-worker to help keep each other in line.
Do you have an office job or another job where you sit long hours each day? How do you handle that and do you think you need to make some changes?