“Get up off that thang! And make yourself feel better!” Okay, I know the lyric is really “…shake ‘til you feel better.” Either way, studies are proving that James Brown had it right. Sitting is BAD for you! And I mean bad; not, you know, like bad means good. Sitting apparently is awful for you.
Just do a Google search on “sitting is bad” and everyone from Huff Post to ABC to the Washington Post etc. will tell you all about it. Sitting has even been called, “the new smoking.” I heard about it on Leonard Lopate. The gist is you need to move! We are not built to spend nine hours a day in front of a computer or tv. When we sit around, we’re not burning fat and our circulation gets sluggish. This creates all sorts of problems that can shorten our lives, like obesity, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, increased blood pressure, high cholesterol levels etc. etc., etc.!
“Cynthia, I go to the gym 5 days a work. This isn’t a problem for me,” you say. Congrats on the commitment you’ve made to exercise. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. Prolonged daily sitting is still risky even if you do exercise regularly. When we sit our muscles get stiff and shorten and circulation slows down. One hour of daily exercise isn’t going to compensate for 9 to 13 hours of being sedentary.
“I can’t quit my job or make my commute shorter, Cynthia! What am I supposed to do?” Oh, don’t I know it! You CAN move your muscles every 15 minutes or so. Make it a habit to get up and walk around. Go for a lap around the block or just around the building. Can’t spare the time? Walk to the bathroom and back. Can’t get away from office at all? Just get up, stretch, walk in place… stand, just stand up and wiggle a little! The point is to move your body.
I found a few videos on youtube.com that I’ve found helpful to keep moving at work. They take just a couple of minutes. Here’s one to check out by Denise Austin. She has a bunch of these targeting different parts of the body.
Denise Austin Total Body Toning Office Workout
The benefits are not just physical either. Getting up and moving is also helpful for mental capacity. People who make the effort to move throughout the day have reported feeling more creative and having greater mental clarity. And that should make everyone at work happy!
How do you keep it moving at work? I would love to hear from you.
Love and Blessings to All,
Cynthia
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