It’s no secret. Americans spend WAAAAY too much time sitting each day. On average we spend more than half of the day sitting. Yikes! Here’s how all of those hours add up:
Sitting for prolonged periods of time is not good for us. It is linked to obesity, metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels) and increases an individual’s risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer. Hearing that is reason enough to get up and get moving! In the past I’ve given you different suggestions on how to sit less. Take a walk break. I don’t mean for 30 minutes…..just to the water fountain and back. Do some light desk exercises. Stretch. Use a stability ball instead of a regular chair. If you’re able to, schedule an active meeting instead of around a table. Just make sure you are breaking up the sitting! But let’s say you have no choice. You are going to be sitting a lot on a particular day. Maybe you’re driving to a fun destination and will be spending all day in the car. Whatever the reason, you may need some exercises and stretches to counteract all that sitting and slumping over! Here are some examples of things you can do to counteract all of the negative effects of sitting!
To counterbalance the bend of your back:
To stretch out your hip flexors:
To open up the chest:
To stretch the shoulder and neck:
To stretch the abdominals:
To stretch the obliques:
To stretch your lower back and lats:
To stretch the whole back and hamstrings:
So do your best to sit for less time! Get up! Stretch! MOVE!!! And if you HAVE to sit……..
make sure to undo all those harmful effects!
I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!
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