Why Sitting at a Desk All Day is Killing You
Many of us are forced to sit at a desk all day with very few breaks to actually stand up and move around. Because of this we face many different problems and pains that can linger and cause problems for many years down the road.
The first problem is that we are becoming more and more sedentary by sitting all the time and less and less mobile. Many people do not have time to devote to their fitness due to busy lives with work and families. This is a reason why obesity in our country is facing serious obesity epidemic. We still eat and take in calories, but do not get enough exercise to burn some of those calories off.
The next big issue – office food is generally fast food or pastries. Without a focus on quality food we are setting ourselves up for failure and with so many temptations in the office, it’s difficult to maintain any type of diet due to peer pressure to eat all the delicious foods!
Finally by sitting all day we are slowly losing our mobility or our ability to move in a way that doesn’t cause restrictions or pain. Sitting at a chair all day usually ends up in a rounded posture with the upper back rounding. This rounding becomes more prominent over time until you can no longer make it straight. This can cause significant shoulder and low back pain. Our hips and ankles are the next piece that suffer from the sitting epidemic. By sitting all day we are effectively shutting off the ability of our hips and ankles to fully function. Ankle mobility becomes next to nothing and the hips do not allow you do squat or sit all the way down without folding over or feeling pain.
How can we solve this problem? We simply cannot stop sitting at our jobs unless you’re given the opportunity to work at a standing workstation. We suggest starting an exercise program three times a week and committing to it. Find a group of people to do it with as you will be more likely to stick with it if more people are involved. Next start a nutrition challenge at the office and get your coworkers involved. If you’re (or most of you) all committed it makes it less likely that those delicious pastries will come around. Finally, take 5min for every 30min you’re sitting, to stand up, stretch and get out of the uncomfortable sitting position.
