Sitting All Day for Work? Make Time to Move
| 3 min read
Most of us sit throughout our work day. We have all heard the research about the benefits of moving throughout the day. This is important for children and adults alike. It helps with health, productivity, energy levels and much more.
Some Facts About Sitting
- On average, Americans sit for 10 hours a day, while we only sleep an average of 7.7 hours.
- Sitting at least 6 hours per day increases risk of death by 40%.
- People who have jobs where they sit are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who stand for a job.
- Sitting burns almost no calories.
- After sitting for 2 hours, good cholesterol (HDLs) drops by 20%.
- People who sit and watch TV for at least 3 hours a day are 64% more likely to die from heart disease.
- Those who watch 6 hours or more of TV a day may be cutting 5 years off their lives — almost as much as lifelong smokers.
- After the age of 25, every hour of TV watching decreases a person’s life by 22 minutes.
- You’re more likely to die earlier from any cause if you sit for long stretches at a time.
- If you sit too much, your brain could look just like that of someone with dementia.
- Sitting also raises your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, which all play a role in the condition.
- Moving throughout the day can help even more than exercise to lower your risk of all these health problems.
- The effects of too much sitting are hard to counter with exercise. Even if you work out 7 hours a week — far more than the suggested 2-3 hours — you can’t reverse the effects of sitting 7 hours at a time.
- The seated position puts huge stress on your back muscles, neck, and spine. It’s even worse if you slouch.
If reading that doesn’t want to make you stand and move, maybe some tools will help inspire you.
My Fit Desk
I have had this Fit Desk for about 8 years now. It is a bike that has a place to
Grace using her Fit Desk.
put my laptop, so I can work and slowly pedal at the same time. I love it, and it was less than $300 and very easy to put together. I actually wrote this blog while pedaling on it.
The nice part is that you do get to sit down, but you must sit up straight. There is also adjustable resistance and a counter that measures time, distance and calories burned. You can also take off the “desk” piece and just use it as a workout bike.
If you already have a bike at home, they have more products that allow you to use your own bike as a stationary bike and work station. Having the Fit Desk is so simple, but it helps keep me motivated to move throughout the work day.
What do you do to keep moving throughout the work day?
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Main image photo credit: PeopleImages
Photo credit: Grace Derocha
