Written by Megan Gaudry.
The views and information provided by Aspire Health & Rehabilitation, and Megan Gaudry, in the form of blogs, videos, photos and reviews are not in any way to be substituted as a Medical consultation, and are for education purposes only.
| Over the last year, there has been a handful of articles on this exact topic. One particular Australian article was comparing it to smoking. But what does it mean? Just think about it, if you have a sitting job, you sit at your desk, you eat lunch sitting down, that's about 7.5-8 hours of sitting, you then go home and eat dinner and watch TV sitting until you go to bed. Don't forget your commute to |  Photo by Theresa Ambrose from The Sydney Morning Herald. |
and from work where you are sitting while driving or on public transport. Then multiple all those hours by 5-7 days a week, 365 days a year, and then multiply that answer to your 'working life'! The amount of time you sit is astonishing, and it is killing us!
A sedentary lifestyle is associated with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and lifestyle related cancers. That doesn't include the common musculoskeletal injuries associated with prolonged (and often poor posture) sitting such as lower back pain.
A sedentary lifestyle is associated with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and lifestyle related cancers. That doesn't include the common musculoskeletal injuries associated with prolonged (and often poor posture) sitting such as lower back pain.
Here are just a few great tips to keep active and not to become a statistic:
The above are just a few examples! Guidelines say that we should be exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, every day, of moderate intensity, or alternatively 20 minutes a day of vigorous intensity! 30minutes only equates to about 4% of your overall day! So its not a great deal of time in the scheme of things, so don’t fall into making excuses as to why you cant exercise, because everyone does it!
- Keep active, not only outside of work, but also whilst working. Take the stairs rather than the elevator, park your car a little further away from work or better yet, park your car at the train station and get a train in and walk to work.
- Get up and move around as much as possible, rather than keeping a large bottle of water on your desk, have a glass or smaller bottle so you have to refill frequently throughout day. If you are communicating with someone in the same facility/office as you, don't email or call them, get off your bottom and walk there. Aim to get up and move every 30 minutes, set reminders on your phone or leave post-it note messages if you have too!
- Promote a healthy lifestyle for those around you, get involved with the community and exercise with others, including your children. Take your kids to the park and play with them outside, take them for a walk with you, organise a walking group with family/ neighbours/ parents of child sporting teams or go ahead and join an existing one!
The above are just a few examples! Guidelines say that we should be exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, every day, of moderate intensity, or alternatively 20 minutes a day of vigorous intensity! 30minutes only equates to about 4% of your overall day! So its not a great deal of time in the scheme of things, so don’t fall into making excuses as to why you cant exercise, because everyone does it!
| So before work, or after work, or even after dinner, rather than sitting down watching TV, get out and go for a walk. I have had clients in the past organise a lunch time walking group at their work, what a great idea to get some vitamin D and some much needed exercise, rather than sitting down eating lunch for an hour! The key is to make it something you would enjoy, the worst thing you can do, is do something you don't enjoy, for example if you don't like walking on a treadmill, walk outside, or if you happen to not like walking at all, go for a bike ride, or take up a group fitness class. |  Photo by Mike Baird from Morro Bay, USA |
For the good of our health, and our backs, it’s time to rise up and sit less!
If you have any questions about incorporating more exercise into your day, let us know by using the ‘contact us’ section of the webpage.
Yours in health,
Megan
If you have any questions about incorporating more exercise into your day, let us know by using the ‘contact us’ section of the webpage.
Yours in health,
Megan
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References used in this article:
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). (2009). ACSM’s guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (8thed). Williams & Wilkins, New York.
- Duncan, M., Nicholas Gilson, N.,& Vandelanotte, C. (2014). Which population groups are most unaware of CVD risks associated with sitting time. Preventive Medicine, 65, 103–108.
- Dunstan, D., Howard, B., Healy, G., & Owen, N. (2012). Too much sitting - A health hazard. Diabetes and Clinical Research, 97, 368-376.
- Norton, K., Norton, L., & Sadgrove, D. (2010). Position statement on physical activity and exercise intensity terminology. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13, 496–502.
* All photos (unless otherwise stated) used in this blog are a product of Aspire Health and Rehabilitation (2014) and cannot be reproduced without permission.
