It’s now pretty obvious that sitting for too many uninterrupted hours per day, without exercising, is really – and I mean really bad for your health. Every week a new study comes out about how a sedentary lifestyle can cause heart disease, cancer, dementia and much more! This week another one came out – this time from Australia, which correlates the amount of time one spends in front of the TV/ computer with one’s life expectancy – the upshot was that sitting like a blob will without doubt, shave years off your life.
The solution it seems, is to get up every twenty minutes and do some kind of exercise, however, this is really hard. Once I’m stuck into my writing or researching, I’m a gonna for at least an hour and that’s not even talking about my online shopping addiction. BTW on that note- have you ever noticed that if you go to a site like Zappos and even look at a pair of shoes, they try to entice you every which way they can with that particular pair when you’ve left their site, by flashing you images of them when you least expect it. I was on a completely random website the other day, and my guilty window-shopping pleasure – the pair of cute ballet flats, suddenly appeared in front of me and then juddered teasingly across the screen. How dare they! But I digress. It’s super-hard to tear yourself away from the computer every twenty minutes when you are working or shopping, and watching a movie or a TV show – hello! So what’s the solution if we have any inclination towards longevity?
Although getting up every 20 minutes is tough and would require a timer, I think I can probably manage every 30 minutes. As I have a clock right in front of me on my computer, it’s not hard to see when 30 minutes has passed. So what are we supposed to do when we break away from the screen? Apparently stand up. Some people even read standing up for 30 minutes before sitting down again (very strange), but even better if you can get in a quick bit of exercise. It doesn’t have to be full-on weight training, but the more you move the better. Here are some ideas that I will put into practice for the month of May and let you know how it goes:
Kettle Bell: I have a 10 pound kettle bell and using it as per the Kettleworx video, will get my heart rate up there in just 10 minutes. If I keep it by my desk, just 3 minutes of one of the workouts will do the trick.
Yoga: Rolling out my yoga mat is a great idea in home office. Two or three sun salutations is all it takes.
Walking: If you work in an office where it would be too embarrassing to do one of the above, walk around for at least 5 minutes. If your office building has stairs – you’re in luck.
Housework: 10 minutes of frenzied housework can be just the ticket. Things that get my heart rate up like mopping floors or vacuuming really quickly are good. The key here is not to get sidetracked with other house chores and just to stick to the one thing before going back to work.
Gardening: If you have a back yard, you are in luck. I did some hard-core weeding this morning for just twenty minutes and it was back-breaking work.
TV commercials: If you fast forward through commercials, pause for a minute, get up and do one of the above approximately every thirty minutes.
The key is that it’s the extended hours of sitting with no break, that’s the problem – even if you go to the gym before or after the extended period. So, starting tomorrow – you’ll be seeing a plethora of exercise stuff around my desk: weights, yoga mat, bands – I’m gonna go for it. Anyone want to join?
