Are You Still Sitting Too Much?
By Sandy Schroeder
The question of sitting too much keeps coming up as health experts tell us how much damage can occur. Moving at every opportunity takes practice, but gradually it may become automatic to stand whenever you can, step away for five minutes if you sit at work, and walk when you meet with colleagues or talk on the phone.
What Happens If You Don’t Move
Harvard Health tells us 67 percent of older adults sit for more than eight hours per day and only 34 percent of these adults exercise. Harvard’s Evelyn O’Neill, emphasizes, “Sitting is the new smoking in terms of health risks.” Lack of movement is perhaps more to blame than anything for a host of health problems such as obesity, back pain, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
How to Turn Everything Around
Taking a few simple steps to move more daily could make a difference. According to the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, simply standing more can help you lose weight and keep it off. Actually, losing weight is just the beginning of the health benefits that you may enjoy when you move more. Breaking out of the sitting routine at work and home can be liberating. You may find yourself enjoying a better mood, spending more time with your kids, and having a lot more energy.
Start by getting 30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week. You can divide the workout into two fifteen-minute sessions or three 10-minute chunks.
Here are some things to do.
- Every two hours get up and walk outside for five minutes
- When you are watching TV, walk around during commercials
- Flex your feet when you are standing in the kitchen; stand on your toes and raise your heels
- Do push-ups against your desk or at home against kitchen or bathroom counters
- Do 10 to 20 reps with small weights when you get up in the morning
- Do 10 sit-and-stand exercises in which you get up from a chair without using the chair arms
- Wash your car instead of using the car wash
- Sweep, mop and vacuum a couple times a week
- Get outside to weed, plant, mow or trim bushes
- Bike to the park with your kids
- Play soccer, volleyball or basketball with your kids or friends
The more you move, the more natural it will seem. Just as sitting became a habit, moving might become your next much more healthy habit.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Lincoln, Nebr.