Hey there!
Did you know that sitting too much has serious health implications? The body is designed for regular movements, unfortunately most jobs require a lot of sitting, some people even spend all day at their desk. Taking a 30 minutes break from you desk everyday go a long way, in fact, it can save your life.
It is not as though sitting on its own is unhealthy, the problem is in sitting too much.
Sitting too much makes the blood flow slower and the muscles burn less fat, this allows fatty acids to clog the heart leading to different manner of heart diseases.
Also, just one day of excess sitting leads the pancreas to produce more insulin, this can lead to diabetes.
Sitting too much can also lead to digestion problems. Now, when you sit down after eating, the abdominal contents begins to compress resulting in sluggish digestion which eventually may lead to heartburn, bloating, cramping, constipation and different digestion problems.
Sitting too much can also result in brain damage. Here is how it works, remember we stated above that the body was designed for active movement, so when the body is sedentary for too long, the brain receives less blood and energy and this affects the brain performance.
Sitting for too long can also result in back pain because more pressure is put on the spine when sitting than when standing and it gets worse when you hunch over.
Sitting for long hours can also make the bones weak. Activities like running, walking and other motion exercises can help lead to stringer bones, lack of it weakens them.
Now you can see and would agree with me that taking a 30-min break away from your desk would go a long way. Below is a list of physical activities you can engage in while at work that would involve you staying away from you seat longer.
- Walking across the office hall to a coworker for small talk for few minutes.
- Organize the office in such a way that not everything is within easy reach so that there would be need for you to stand up from time to time.
- Using exercise balls as chairs
- Having standing workstations.
- Taking a longer route to your work space.
- Set reminders, timers to remind you to take a walk.
- Having different work spaces so that you can work from either space and thereby reduce the hours you spend sitting by the time in between.
Your career and work is very important, but your health is more important.
