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.

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

  • Calling all vegans and vegetarians…

    Choline is an essential nutrient that humans must get through their diet, the most common food sources are meat, poultry, fish, dairy product and eggs.  Non-meat sources include wheatgerm and brussels sprouts. It is needed to produce acetylcholine an important neurotransmitter for among other things:

    • Memory
    • Mood
    • Muscle control
    Researchers have discovered that taking a daily choline dietary supplement could reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s and it should be something that vegetarians and vegans in particular should be doing.  The Arizona researchers estimated that the currently daily recommendations of 550mg for men and 425mg for women can be quadrupled without causing any side-effects, and at these higher levels, choline would have a greater protective effect. Reference https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acel.13037

  • Lets talk about tension headaches

    We all get headaches from time to time.  Tension headaches are characterised by

    • Dull, aching head pain.
    • Sensation of tightness or pressure across your forehead or on the sides and back of your head.
    • Tenderness on your scalp, neck and shoulder muscles.
    Tension headaches are the most common form of headaches and can last anywhere between 30 minutes to a week.  If they occurr more than 15 days in a month for 3 months you have chronic tension headaches. People are more susceptible to tension headaches when they have
    • their period (women only)
    • under pressure or stress
    • poor posture
    I know that peole find tension headaches are annoying and sometimes headache tablets either don't work or work initially and then less helpful.  Here in clinic we find that deep tissue massage on the couch allows us to identify which muscles in the neck, shoulders, upper back and chest are tight and release them.  We frequently find this either release the tension headache or at least lessens it.  If you are prone to tension headaches, then a series of massages may assist especially if you have poor posture, under pressure or highly stressed.

  • What is good standing posture?

    We all know we need to maintain good posture, but what exactly is good standing posture? Good standing posture When standing, keep these tips in mind:

    • Keep your shoulders back and relaxed.
    • Pull in your abdomen.
    • Keep your feet about hip distance apart.
    • Balance your weight evenly on both feet.
    • Let your hands hang naturally at your sides.
    Try not to tilt your head forward, backward or sideways, and make sure your knees are relaxed — not locked.

    Take the wall test

    To test your standing posture, take the wall test. Stand with your head, shoulder blades and buttocks touching a wall, and have your heels about 2 to 4 inches (about 5 to 10 centimeters) away from the wall. Reach back and slide your hand behind the curve in your lower back, with your palm flat against the wall. Ideally, you'll feel about one hand's thickness of space between your back and the wall. If there's too much space, tighten your abdominal muscles to flatten the curve in your back. If there's too little space, arch your back so that your hand fits comfortably behind you. Walk away from the wall while maintaining this posture. Keep it up throughout your daily activities.

    Check out your reflection

    To see if you're keeping your shoulders straight, stand in front of a mirror. Aim to keep your shoulders square and relaxed.

    It all adds up

    Although good posture should be natural, you might feel wooden or stiff at first if you've forgotten the sensation of standing up straight. The key is to practice good posture all the time.  Remember its never to late to start practicing good posture.