Is sitting the new smoking?
The majority of office workers spend their working day sitting. As bad as smoking? No I don’t think so but, it is still not good. Hours of minimal activity has a price. A simple change is to utilize a sit-stand workstation. A person need not spend the all day standing to benefit. In fact I do not recommend it. Standing all day has its own downside; just ask anyone who works in retail. Being able to change back and forth though makes a big difference.
Standing all day may not be the solution
Certain conditions can limit the extent to which one can utilizing a standing workstation (a few examples would be Pregnancy, Varicose veins, Plantar Fasciitis). So it is best to be able to switch back and forth between sitting and standing.
As long as you don’t have any of the above limiting conditions, reducing your sit time by standing or changing between sitting and standing regularly offers a number of benefits:
- • Strengthens leg, ankle and foot muscles
- • Improves balance
- • Reduces likelihood of blood clots deep in the lower extremity
- • Increased muscle movement helps improve lymphatic circulation
- • Reduces cardiovascular disease risk• Enhances alertness
- • Encourages more movement
- • Allows for deeper breathing
- • Promotes weight loss (due to movement and postural muscle activity)
- • Easier on the lower back (especially if you can put one foot up and then periodically switch)
- • This is a more relaxed natural posture
- • Is less fatiguing (muscles do not hold static position for prolonged periods) Static positions, and sitting in particular, have a variety of bad health effects.
Stay active
We Humans are meant to move. The sit-stand workstation helps us be active. It is an idea whose time has come. It has become common in offices and homes now. In the meantime here is a link to an exercise you can put in your self care toolkit. Do these moves to help keep you limber at your desk. Need more help contact us here.