Did you sit for more than 2 consecutive hours without a break today?
Your body was made to move, therefore, sitting for long periods of time can have a negative impact on your health, particularly in your musculo-skeletal system.
When your body is stationary for long periods of time, even the best posture breaks down under the forces of gravity. When this happens, your body's perfectly-balanced support system, your muscles, start to fatigue. This increases stress to the ligaments and joints connecting the bones of your skeletal system.
Another unwanted side effect of sitting for prolonged periods of time is the reduction in blood flow to the brain. Much in the same way gravity acts on your joints, it causes blood to pool in the lowest regions of your body such as your feet and your "seat".
As a result, the amount of oxygen-rich blood reaching your brain is reduced which can lead to mental fatigue and lack of mental performance. To avoid all of these nasty side effects of sitting, simply stand up. You don’t need to necessarily jog around the block every couple hours, just get in some type of movement between periods of being sedentary.
To help keep yourself on track be sure to use any and all cues necessary to remind yourself of this task:
● You can create a plan that builds frequent movement variety into the normal work day
● Set your watch or phone alarm to ring every 2 hours
● Ask a friend to prompt you for the first few days as you establish this very important habit.
Just make sure that you take a posture break and move for a couple of minutes.
Simply standing is insufficient. Walk to a printer, stand for a meeting, take the stairs, go to a water fountain or just take a stroll around office.
Increase your energy and mental stamina by making a point to get up and move for 5 minutes each hour!
