Millions of people working from their homes and offices are spending way too much time in their chairs. This is a habit that can lead to more than just a numb bum! Too much sitting sets you up for a host of physical problems including poor circulation, chronic back and nerve pain, depression, osteoporosis, swollen spinal disks, fatigue, and many other health problems. In fact, according to Health Day News, Canadian researchers found that prolonged daily sitting could cause these problems even if you exercise regularly.
If you’re like the majority of people in America today (approximately 50-70%), you probably spend six or more hours of your day sitting down. This should come as no surprise considering how imperative technology has become to our everyday lives. As if society didn’t spend enough time sitting down before, the emergence of television and computers has driven people to spend hours upon hours sitting down. And what’s so wrong with that? As it turns out, sitting down for such long periods of time is causing more damage than you might have ever thought.
Basically, your body all but completely shuts down as soon as you have a seat. To make matters worse, enzymes that help break down fat drop 90% when sitting down.
No need to worry though.
You can stand strong with these Sitting Solutions:
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- 50/10 Rule: Don’t sit for more than 50 minutes. Set a timer and take 10 when it rings.
- Don’t be a crooked sitter or sloucher: Sit up straight. If you find this difficult, uncomfortable or painful, call our office and schedule an appointment. Your spine may have a misalignment with nerve pressure, a subluxation, which needs correcting.
- Take your lunch break: Get up and go somewhere even if you bring something in.
- Diet: Keeping an eye on diet-cut down on drinking and smoking, eat nutritious food and reduce stress.
- Walk: Regularly breaking up seat-based work with standing-based work with use of adjustable sit-stand
Regardless of the tactics, the underlying principle is the same: get up and move more often. It’s easy to get caught up in work or television and find yourself sitting in the same position for hours at a time, but doing so presents a laundry list of health issues. However, with a small amount of awareness and a little preparation, you can escape the side-effects of idleness and start feeling the benefits of an active lifestyle.