Do you spend large chunks of your day sitting at a desk, staring at a screen? If so, this can come with serious health issues. Even regular sessions at the gym or jogging, while beneficial in general, aren’t a solution.
So what’s the answer to what has been described as “the new smoking”?
What Are the Problems with Sitting?
As long ago as 2005, Beach et al. reported in The Spine Journal that excessive sitting could increase the risk of lower back pain. It has also been linked to weight gain, a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other conditions.
One of the most popular solutions, which is sweeping offices all over the world, is the standing desk. The theory is that standing to work is healthier than sitting. In fact, standing can be just as sedentary, as well as having its own issues, such as varicose veins.
The issue may not actually be sitting, but inactivity, while the answer seems to be variety and continuous movement.
Taking Exercise
If you have a sedentary job, whether you’re sitting or standing, you may be exercising to compensate. However, while a period of intense exercise has many health benefits, Biswas et al. (2015) in the Annals of Internal Medicine have shown that “Prolonged sedentary time was independently associated with deleterious health outcomes regardless of physical activity.”
Rather, it seems that frequent low-impact activity can be far more effective than an hour in the gym before or after an inactive working day. Altenburg et al. showed that short exercise breaks every 20-30 minutes, such as walking, seem to have a positive effect on health.
What Kind of Exercise?
It’s unlikely that going to get a coffee or visiting the toilet will provide adequate exercise in your breaks, even if you could manage these every half an hour. On the other hand, strategies like walking meetings, while well worth considering, won’t provide the frequent breaks you need from sitting or standing still.
Perhaps the most effective solution is likely to be microbreaking. This is essentially just an extension of your instinctive need to stop and stretch. However, instead of just stretching and holding the pose, microbreaking involves repeated “wriggling”, where you may perform the unwinding movements you instinctively need a dozen times.
As with many health issues, a wide spectrum of changes can be valuable. Getting plenty of general exercise will be good for your overall health (of course), as will improving your working practices and environment. But, if you spend all day at a desk, microbreaking is essential to counter “the new smoking”.
You’re very welcome to give me a call if you want to know more about counteracting the effects of a sedentary job.
References
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1529943004006205
https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(10)00315-X/abstract
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M14-1651
https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00662.2013