Nowadays, a sedentary lifestyle prevails and this is something that we will have to modify. According to a study carried out, if we reduce the time we spend sitting down to 3 hours, we will be increasing our life expectancy by 3 more years. The same study states that we would live 1.4 years longer if we manage to watch television less than 2 hours a day.
Risks of a sedentary life
- Although it is quite difficult to calculate the years that we have left to live based on healthy or less healthy attitudes, what is clear is that this sedentary lifestyle is, in fact, very harmful to health. It is time to change our habits. Perhaps we will not live more years, but surely we live them with better quality. And it is that the risks of a lack of physical exercise and sedentary lifestyle are many. These risks include obesity, heart disease, hip or spinal posture problems, brittle bones, diabetes, insomnia, and premature aging.
- But what happens if the cause of sitting for a long time is our work? There are jobs in which it is essential to remain seated all or almost all the time. Truck drivers, taxi drivers, administrative employees… Until the appropriate measures are taken from the legislative field, recognizing the health risks of a prolonged sitting position, we will have to resort to some tricks.
Recommendations for not sitting for a long time
- Experts in occupational risk prevention indicate that the ideal would be that every 50 minutes in a sitting position should be followed by 10 minutes doing another activity standing or walking as a recovery period. In this way we would avoid the risk of suffering from a musculoskeletal disorder.
- Another measure to take into account is to have an ergonomic work environment. If you work in front of a computer, adjust the height of the chair and the table so that you don’t have to arch your back when you type.
- It is convenient to perform some exercises throughout the working day. How to turn the neck forwards and backwards, to the sides and in circles to relieve tension in the neck. Rotating your ankles and bending and straightening your knees will help improve blood circulation in your legs.
- As we know that working conditions are not always adequate, it is convenient that after the working day you compensate for bad postures. You may find it impossible to get up regularly, or your boss may look down on you for doing some exercises while you work. But when you get home, don’t let yourself be overcome by reluctance and do some gentle exercise. Going for a walk is one of the essentials to maintain a good state of health. And practicing swimming is one of the most recommended exercises due to the benefits it provides at a postural and muscular level.
- Remember that it is your health and your quality of life that is at stake. And that the body has memory, it is possible that you still do not notice the damage and discomfort of sitting for so long, but over the years your body will suffer from this mistreatment. So put a stop to it now and dedicate yourself to pampering your body to have a healthier future.