Many people are often forced to lead a sedentary life behind the desk. If you sit in the same position for too long, you will eventually experience a lot of discomfort and this can have negative effects on your health. How can you best deal with this?
Why is sitting a lot bad for you?
Your muscles in your body must keep moving, otherwise they will weaken. Your heart is also a muscle that needs to be trained. If your heart stays in good condition, it will not weaken and will remain strong, so that more blood is pumped through your body. A fit heart pumps at least 25% more blood through your body when you sit and more than 50% more blood when you exert yourself. If you have a fit body, you will also notice that your fitness will improve much faster.Source: Woodsy, Rgbstock
We exercise less and less these days
In the past, we had to make a lot more effort to get work done. Nowadays this is all becoming increasingly automated. Consider the car, for example. Previously, we cycled or walked much more. The elevator increasingly takes us up instead of the stairs. If we want to send a message to someone, we will no longer deliver it personally, but will send it by e-mail. The dishwasher does the hard work for us. And there are countless examples to come up with. There is nothing wrong with all these improvements, as long as we continue to exercise next door.
How do we compensate for this?
Many people have sedentary jobs. Yet you can compensate quite a bit to keep yourself fit during your work. It is often those little things that can be very positive for your posture.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator more often
- Get off the bus one stop earlier and walk the last bit
- Cycle to work
- Park your car at the back of the parking lot so you have an extra mile to walk
- Walk to your colleague instead of emailing or calling
Unfortunately, the above points are often too much trouble for people. It is often thought about in the beginning, but unfortunately it weakens during the first year. Too little time and too much work can quickly cause you to fall back into your old patterns.
Other ailments due to a sedentary life
A number of ailments are due to a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise. People who sit a lot and exercise little may suffer from:
- Faster aging
- Overweight
- Weaker muscles
- Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
Source: Just4you, Rgbstock
Exercise during your work
It is therefore very important to be able to do exercises while sitting at work. There is often no time for this, but fortunately there are still plenty of exercises that take more time, so that your work will not suffer. For example, you can think of:
A foot rocker
Walking while sitting would be ideal. But this can also be done with a foot rocker. While you press with one leg, the other leg is pressed upwards. This allows you to train both legs very intensively.
Hand, arm and leg trainer
It already speaks for itself. Your arms, hands and legs are trained and this promotes your blood circulation very well. Cycling while working. Ideal.
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