In the past couple of weeks I've noticed a lot of coverage on the issue of how lethal sitting for a long time can be for us. The first reports I came across made me a bit skeptical because I couldn't see the cause and effect relationship of the results. So even though I posted on the FHH Facebook page about this issue, I thought – it's going to be one more thing to fad in and out of focus (did'you see what I did there ;o)
Then today, during my morning routine of reading I found this article: "Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?" It's much more substantiated in terms of how the research was done… I'll let you read it for yourself, instead of regurgitating it here.
The bottom line – I'm starting to think long and hard about decreasing my sitting time.
So if you, like me, read the article and then decide to do something about it, you'll find the next few lines beneficial. Because whilst the article above is quite extensive, it doesn't give much in the way of "so what do we do about the problem, if becoming a farmer isn't an option". Apart from one reference to a treadmill walking workstation (which frankly baffles me…).
Here are some of the solutions I brainstormed that are easy to implement in a desk-bound work-day, that will increase circulation and motion time.
- Bounce around: Bouncing on a rebounder 2 to 3 times a day for a minute at a time is an awesome way to kick-start your lymphatic system. I do 250 bounces on my feet (no rebounder as we live on the first floor, and I somehow don't think the neighbors below would appreciate the importance of me clearing my lymph nodes).
- Sit actively: I posted on Facebook about this: basically, get yourself an appropriately sized (usually 75cm ball is a good fit) balance ball, and use it to sit on the whole day or at least a few hours in a day. It keeps your body engaged. Try it and you'll see how it really does fatigue your core and legs. A word of warning though, don't compromise on correct posture – make sure the ball is big enough to seat you at the right height.
- Take frequent breaks: Your attention span should be cycling every 90 minutes anyway, but better yet – get up and walk about for 5 minutes every hour. Just walk about the office, walk to the water cooler. Walk up and down a flight of stairs… move.
- Do some stretches at your desk.
The point is to move. Often. And as much as possible.
I know – it's not easy and your colleagues might think you're crazy, but hey – they'll get bored of teasing eventually… leaving you to have a healthy and normally functioning metabolism.
That's it from me on this. I'll leave you with a somewhat scary stat quote from the article I shared with you above:
This is your body on chairs: Electrical activity in the muscles drops — “the muscles go as silent as those of a dead horse,”
