Is Sitting Bad For Your Health?
With the pandemic winding down in many ways, a lot of business and employees are stopping the remote work life and going back to the office. With this, comes a lot more sitting than usual, and the health risks of excessive sitting are certainly something to keep an eye on.
According to Mayo Clinic, consistently sitting for more than eight hours per day has health risks on par with smoking and obesity. Excessive sitting has also been linked to increased potential for cardiovascular disease or cancer. After all the time working at home with presumably less sitting, many workers going back to the office could be in for a rude awakening when it comes to time spent sitting. However, there are several ways to counter these risks with even moderate physical activity.
If you’re a workaholic who struggles to leave your desk, you might be at the most risk for an excessive amount of time sitting. An easy fix for this is a standing desk. To avoid spending too much time in the chair, simply stand up while you work for 15-30 minutes every few hours. This will increase blood circulation, stretch your muscles, and burn more calories.
If you’re able, another great way to burn calories, stand up, and get moving is the walking meeting. If a lot of your day is consumed sitting in small group meetings in an office or conference room, try to have the meeting on the move. Instead of sitting around a table, have your talk while walking, especially while the weather is nice. This will increase the calories you burn, and moving has even been shown to increase free thinking and creativity.
For those really trying to ensure that they don’t spend too much time sitting while increasing their fitness during the day, check out the X3S Bench. This home product can easily fit in any office, and has the versatility to hit any muscle group or accommodate any workout type. If you want to do cardio, you can do rapid stand ups. If you want to do strength, you can grab dumbbells and use the bench for chest press, rows, flys, etc. There’s truly nothing you can’t do, and most importantly it will get you out of the chair and get you moving during the day.