The Impact of Sitting All Day – Part 6
Studies have shown that an alert body and active lifestyle boosts not just productivity, but also happiness and satisfaction levels. There is now an explosion of research studies that demonstrate the harmful effects of sitting all day, which I have covered in past blog posts.
- the impact on muscles (in part 1)
- the general impact on the body (in part 2)
- the impact on your heart and the increase risk of cardiovascular disease (in part 3)
- the increased risk of certain cancers (in part 4)
In my last blog post, “Taking a Break“, I explored the reasons for taking a break and looked at the latest research on the length of break you need to take and the frequency.
So now I want to focus on strategies to get you moving…
Use an Exercise Ball for a Chair
Unlike sitting in a chair, sitting on a exercise ball engages your core muscles and helps improve your balance & flexibility. Occasionally bouncing can also help your body interact with gravity to a greater degree than sitting on a stationary chair.
Use the Stairs
Walk up and down stairs, rather than take the lifts. Even if you only walk up or down one flight of stairs and then take the lift the rest of the way it will have a positive impact on your health.
Walk & Talk Meeting
If you have an informal meeting with a colleague why not suggest a walk & talk meeting, weather permitting you could always go outside and get some fresh air too!
Pedometer
Using a pedometer will help you asses how many steps you take throughout the day. Taking a roundabout way to your desk, taking the stairs or walking to the next tube station as part of your commute will help you increase the number of steps you take daily.
Exercise while you Sit at your desk
An Amercian start up company, FitnessCubed, has come up with Cubii, an under-desk elliptical trainer that allows you to do basic exercise while you sit at a standard office desk. (It requires no changes to your existing desk set up.) They have also produced a mobile app that allows you to track your workout and you can also share your work out results – so you could even hold an inter-office competition.
Related Posts
Headaches – How to tell when they are serious
More than 10 million people in the UK get headaches regularly, making them one of the most common health complaints. The most common treatment is to take a pain killer. In previous blog posts I have explored other treatments including
Most headaches aren't serious and are easily treated. However it is important that anyone with a headache “that is out of the norm” should see their GP as soon as possible. Particularly if the headache is more likely to be serious i.e.:- it occurs suddenly and is very severe – often described as a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
- it doesn't go away and gets worse over time
- it occurs after a severe head injury
- it's triggered suddenly by coughing, laughing, sneezing, changes in posture, or physical exertion
- you have symptoms suggesting a problem with your brain or nervous system, including weakness, slurred speech, confusion, memory loss, and drowsiness
- you have additional symptoms, such as a high temperature (fever), a stiff neck, a rash, jaw pain while chewing, vision problems, a sore scalp, or severe pain and redness in one of your eyes
Forget what you think you know about Parkinson’s …
There seems to be a trend at the moment of researchers discovering that chronic disease starts in the gut. A theory was proposed in 2003 that was that Parkinson’s which is seen as a brain disease originates in the gut. Now researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark have confirmed that Parkinson’s migrates from the gut. Another important discovery is that the hearts of people with Parkinson’s can also be affected. In fact, the protein alpha-synuclein starts in the gut, then damages the heart before moving on to the brain. They also discovered that it’s in the heart where the damage to the nervous system begins. Researchers now say that a build-up of the protein alpha-synuclein in the gut can be detected up to 20 years before the disease manifests. Researcher Per Broghammer says that understanding where Parkinson’s originates is the first step towards preventing the disease and developing an effective treatment. Reference https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00401-019-02040-w
Introduction to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Way back when I first started at Barclays, one of the first clients I treated was returning to work after being signed off with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Which is a common and painful disorder of the wrist, caused by pressure on the median nerve which creates numbness and tingling in the fingers. At its worse it can lead to loss of grip and permanent numbness in the fingers. Repetitive computer use thought to be one of the causes, but scientific studies have shown contradictory results. A recent review of the scientific evidence found that frequent computer or mouse use can nearly double the risk of developing the condition. Repeated tapping, scrolling and swiping on your smartphone or tablet can also lead ot carpal tunnel problems. If these sort of repeated movements are the cause then improving your posture will help. But it is also worth ruling out other possible causes such as:
- Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Thyriod Disease
