We spend 65-75% of our day seated and stationary according to a recent survey. Not just at work but again when we get home and collapse in-front of the TV for the evening.
Even as someone who works from home, I spend much of my day either on the phone or at the computer ... working with clients or writing blogs and articles.
It's one of the reasons, with a more sedentary and stressful lifestyle, obesity is increasing and all the diseases associated with lack of exercise and a poor diet are affecting people earlier and earlier in their lives. We might be living longer but are we living into a healthy old age?
Now you have another reason to get up from your desk and move around. It's important to take regular breaks at work - not just for health reasons but it will also improve your productivity and increase your energy.
While not all of us can invest in the new sit/stand desks, you can do something to ensure you get up more often and don't spend all your day seated. As well as making sure your desk, chair and computer are positioned correctly:
- Go and get a glass of water or a drink every hour or after completing a task. Consciously take a break.
- Don't spend your lunch hour at your desk - get up and take a walk outside (weather permitting).
- Get up from your desk and go and talk to a nearby colleague rather than send them an email.
- Stand up when you're on the phone.
- Use the stairs rather than the lift/elevator.
- Walk don't drive - walk or cycle to and from work or at least for those shorter journeys.
- Go for a walk or get some exercise after work to physically and mentally switch from
- Get yourself a pedometer and see how many steps you actually walk in a day and do what you can to increase it bit by bit.
- Start yoga, tai chi or pilates as a way to get the body gently moving if you're not
If you spend most of your working day seated in an office or in meetings. Take what opportunities you can to balance the hours you spend seated with being more active and getting exercise - either in your lunch-time, evening or at the weekends.
Could offices change from sitting to standing? (BBC News)
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