Person 2 Person Engagement
Unknowingly, a good number of people are falling prey to the health effects of a sedentary lifestyle, and by the looks of it, there’s little we can do about it.
Statistics have revealed how most adults in North America
sit for around 9.3 hours in the day; and you don’t need to be a genius to
figure out how other regions of the world, more or less, follow the same fate.
So what is it that makes ‘sitting’ so bad for your health?
Well, for starters, sitting for long periods can restrict
the blood circulation and slow down your metabolism, which in turn, increases
the risk of obesity by a good percent.
Next, it has also been linked to the
shutting down of muscle and the tightening of connective tissue, which makes
you less active. What’s more, if you lead a sedentary lifestyle, your brain
tends to become less active, and craves for the slowly moving nutrients and
blood, and also sets the body engine into the ‘idle’ mode.
So how do you juggle work and workouts? Well, here we’ve put
down some easy and simple ways to balance them out, and stay fit and healthy.
Get a Better Chair:
Now this may sound downright boring, but the truth is, it can actually do
wonders into improving your health. Sitting for long hours have been linked to
some serious conditions, including lowered levels of HDL cholesterol (the good
cholesterol), higher insulin levels, compressed spines, neck aches and
increased waist circumferences.
To add to that, sitting and working for long hours has also been compared to having health effects as harmful as those that occur during smoking; now that’s saying something!
To add to that, sitting and working for long hours has also been compared to having health effects as harmful as those that occur during smoking; now that’s saying something!
Choosing a well-designed flexible chair, desk bike or just sitting on an exercise ball,
could work wonders into improving your health and cutting down the long term
negative impacts of sitting for long hours.
Get Creative with Work Place Exercise: If
you’re really concerned about your sedentary lifestyle, you may have already
found creative ways to sneak in a little bit of physical activity throughout
the day.
Simple tasks like going on errands, fetching something from the supermarket, climbing up the stairs, using a washroom that’s far away from your office cabin, or pacing through the room while waking literally ‘wake’ up your body, making you feel more active, which in turn, helps you perform better at work.
Simple tasks like going on errands, fetching something from the supermarket, climbing up the stairs, using a washroom that’s far away from your office cabin, or pacing through the room while waking literally ‘wake’ up your body, making you feel more active, which in turn, helps you perform better at work.
You could also set an hourly timer to get up and stretch and
walk around a bit for a few minutes throughout the day.
Most workplaces now do understand the seriousness of sedentary lifestyle, and have come up with innovative inventions like the bike desk and more.
If you’re workplace doesn’t have one, you could make a suggestion to your colleagues and try getting them for your office. If you do already have it, make it a point to use it well- it could save thousands in physiotherapy costs later!
Most workplaces now do understand the seriousness of sedentary lifestyle, and have come up with innovative inventions like the bike desk and more.
If you’re workplace doesn’t have one, you could make a suggestion to your colleagues and try getting them for your office. If you do already have it, make it a point to use it well- it could save thousands in physiotherapy costs later!
Weigh your Options:
There are several studies that have confirmed the fact that movement is good,
and conversely, sitting is very bad for us.
Now, the choice is yours- you could choose to live on the way you have been in the past; or you could choose to make simple choices that inculcate exercise into your life, and improve your health.
Now, the choice is yours- you could choose to live on the way you have been in the past; or you could choose to make simple choices that inculcate exercise into your life, and improve your health.
A simple ball chair or a standup desk may seem too tiny to
make a difference, but they do; and they motivate you to make more changes.
Cognitive research has also revealed how people who are active in their lives and make it a point to exercise perform much better at work than others who don’t. Need we say more?
Cognitive research has also revealed how people who are active in their lives and make it a point to exercise perform much better at work than others who don’t. Need we say more?
On an EndNote: it is important to realize that you need to
enjoy your exercise; it will boost your health in more ways than one, and your
body will thank you for it!
Oh
and you might not want to jump right into the treadmill desk trend just yet. It
doesn't look like many of the employees in this video are having much fun
or being too productive!
desk elliptical image courtesy of Fox News: http://magazine.foxnews.com/at-home/can-you-pedal-pounds-away-desk-elliptical
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