You’d Better Sit Down For This
You’d better sit down for this. Better yet, don’t. Why? Because we already sit way too much. We sit to commute. We sit at our computers at work. We sit at meetings. We even relax…by sitting. Even if you workout for an hour a day, that doesn’t counter the fact that Americans on average sit for 9.3 hours a day.
What happens when we sit for prolonged periods of time?
- Our metabolism slows down
- Our muscles shorten
- Our connective tissue tightens
So what do you do if your job requires a lot of sitting? Experts in the health and ergonomic world have proposed a few options:
1) Sitting on an exercise ball rather than a chair
2) Working at a standing desk rather than sitting
3) Walking on a treadmill while working at a standing desk
Let’s look at sitting on an exercise ball. It’s true that sitting on an unstable surface requires our muscles to work to balance ourselves on the ball. However, studies have shown that sitting on an exercise ball also causes upper back and neck stiffness as well as spinal compression. These drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
What about working at a standing desk? It’s true that standing burns more calories than sitting. In fact, if we stood for 8 hours at work rather than sitting, we can expect to burn over 500 calories more a day. So if you’re looking to lose weight or get lean, standing seems to be a better option than sitting. But, is there something even better? Let’s take a look.
What about walking on a treadmill while working at a standing desk? While it’s true that walking burns more calories than standing, humans tend to do finer work while sitting. This means that if your job requires a lot of cognitive function like analytical focus, attention to detail, discovery, innovation, or creativity, you will do a better job while sitting.
The harder the task, the more mistakes you’ll make while walking and these drawbacks outweigh any physical benefits.
The bottom line is that it’s NOT about the chair. Rather, I propose 3 solutions that I call “movement snacks”:
- Set a timer for one hour and when the timer goes off, get up, stretch and get your blood flowing
- Have walking meetings with your co-workers outside
- When taking a phone call, stand up and walk around instead of sit
The take-home message here is that we basically need to move our bodies more. Again, when we sit for prolonged periods of time, we can expect our metabolism to slow down, our muscles to shorten, and our connective tissue to tighten. So, commit to taking regular “movement snacks” that I suggested. I guarantee you’ll not only feel better physically, but you’ll be more productive, and just do better work!
What “movement snack” will you take action on this week at work? I’d love to know! Reply back and tell me how you will try to move more at work!
(credit: Precision Nutrition)
