With today’s advanced technology and new tools to assist us, we tend to spend a lot of time sitting down. This may happen because we are either busy checking notifications from social media or are too preoccupied with our work. This is due to the tremendously high demand for being able to respond 24/7.
Unfortunately, this makes our lifestyle sedentary and makes us wonder about the health risks of sitting. A sedentary lifestyle is a type of lifestyle involving little or no physical activity at all.
Modern technology has brought us various benefits of comfort and convenience. However, along with those benefits, there are some risks to our health as well. A sedentary lifestyle has become one of the culprits when it comes to health risks. Others include having an unbalanced diet, irregular blood pressure, and heart disease.
Being physically active is one of the best ways to offset the dangers caused by prolonged sitting. Experts advised changing the habit of sitting too much and standing instead.
Simple Ways to Offset The Health Risks of Sitting All Day
There are simple ways of how you can alleviate the risks of sitting. These can help you maintain good posture and get rid of the different kinds of chronic pain.
Sit Less and Walk More
Walking can be a great way to relax and stay healthy. Walking can help reduce the risk of heart disease and boost muscle power and endurance. When walking, it’s a great idea to use a pedometer to measure the number of steps. A pedometer is a great gadget that can motivate and promote physical activity and fitness awareness.
It doesn't mean that you need a vigorous and extended walk to achieve a positive result and improve your health. You can walk anywhere where you can also enjoy the sight and feel more relaxed.
Taking long walks in some of your daily activities, such as using the restroom from other floors, using a stairway instead of an elevator, or walking over to a colleague instead of sending an email, are great things that we can do to create a more active lifestyle.
Stand a Few Minutes
Stand once in a while during your work. Get up and walk somewhere to get the blood flowing. Strategize on how you can get up from sitting all day and walk it off. We understand that sometimes you get caught up with work and stressful deadlines and forget that you have been sitting for hours on end.
However, a good trick is to set the alarm on your phone or a quick reminder. If you have been sitting for one to two hours, put your phone to alert you that it is time to stand for a few minutes and shake it off.
If your schedule is a bit looser that particular day, you can take advantage and run some work-related errands. If you need to send email or text to your colleague, do yourself a favour and walk to their workspace to deliver your message.
Also, try to walk up the stairs and use the elevator less to get your blood flow moving better.
Do Some Stretches Each Day
Some people think that stretching is essential only for sports such as gymnastics and running. But are you aware of all the benefits that stretching can bring? Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, reliable, and healthy.
If stretching is not done regularly, the bones and muscles can become weak. The magic of stretching does not happen overnight, it takes time, and you must remain committed to how it should be done correctly. It takes weeks to months to get flexible, so it needs continuity while working on it.
Muscles need to be flexible, secure, and healthy to maintain a range of motion. Being inactive could make the muscles stay in lousy conditions as these will become short and tight.
Also, there are other ways to achieve a more active lifestyle either at home or work, such as using a sit-stand desk. The benefit of a standing desk is generally focused on how to become mentally and physically healthy. It has been proven that it can eliminate back pain brought by too much sitting.
Maintain a Healthy Sitting Posture
Although we are promoting it to prevent sitting all day, we all know for a fact that, at some point, we are still going to sit as our body needs it. If you are working in an office or home, experts give the same advice when it comes to sitting the correct way.
We need to remind ourselves of the habit of good posture. Let us not allow our body to lean forward and to hunch back. We must be aware of our position by keeping our back straight to prevent shoulders from being stiff.
There are two sitting positions regarding properly maintaining a good posture, the stack sitting, and stretch sitting. Stack sitting allows you to breathe naturally, heighten your spine while sitting. Moreover, stretch sitting is another way to keep your spine in its location by using a prop on your chairs, such as a towel or cushion.
Conclusion
We need to ensure that the height of our chair is adjusted to a 90 degrees angle. We also need to prevent our legs from being crossed all the time, contributing to worsening back pain.
It is best to use an ergonomic chair or a sit-stand desk to alleviate back pain and help us remember to stand once in a while at work.
Standing while working also helps us to be productive. The health risks of sitting all day are dangerous to our health, as sitting for prolonged periods can make us inactive. Staying active every day helps us become more well-rounded and aware of our health conditions.
However, remember that neither sitting or standing too much is healthy for you. The best thing you can do is to balance your time between sitting and standing for a healthier lifestyle.
