Are we warming our behinds too much, too long? I think we are; or I am at least.
Sitting is the new smoking! Yes, that’s what it says online; it’s that bad – sitting too long!
We’ve all heard that sitting in a chair for too long at a time can be hazardous to one’s health. I’ve heard it one too many times but never really understood its full meaning until the MCO, when work from home went from choice to compulsory.
Working hours were stretched way beyond the eight-hour work day. I’m saying this from experience; I truly felt ill – the reason I went from desk-bound to outward (nature)-bound. Health-wise – never felt more alive!
Today I decided to see what is being said in more current times coz’ I’ve been sitting a lot over the past few months trying to get my website and social media pages up and running (no pun intended). And boy … was I shocked! There’re some serious health risks in sitting and it’s time for a wake-up call!
You can read about the effects of sitting around if you didn’t already know but were you aware that the effects (of too much sitting) are hard to counter? Yup, adding more exercise time to next week’s sched because you spent this entire week cramming in a series on Netflix (after a long day sitting at the office and skipping gym/cycle/run/walk time) ain’t gonna make much change, if at all; more so if this is a regular pattern of yours.
I’m just regurgitating what’s being said on the medical and education websites. I’m holding a red flag on sitting too long at a time, simply because I can see and feel the difference in just a couple of months of sitting a little too much.
If employers hope to keep their employees healthy and in optimal performance, maybe stand-up work stations could be more available – seen and not just heard of – and employees be made to understand the benefits of less sitting. There are some really shocking articles on how sitting too early and too long (for babies); and sitting too much for kids can affect their health as well.
Let’s all stand more and sit less!