Sitting sometimes might be terrible for your health, especially when it’s done at a stretch. It could cause terrible backaches, affect body posture, and encourage less productivity.
The Mayo Clinic asserts that people who sit for fewer hours and move around more have a better chance of leading healthy lives than those who don’t.
It’s true that for some people, sitting for long hours is almost unavoidable due to their occupation, the dynamics of a physical event, or the need to meet a deadline. However, they would need intentionality to navigate this dilemma and choose healthier options than sitting all day.
Let’s discuss what you can do to move more instead of sitting for long hours.
1. Take breaks intermittently
When you sit for long hours, you risk straining your muscles, poor blood circulation, and bad posture. To control these risks, you can take breaks at intervals and engage in activities that aid movement from time to time.
These breaks are good for your muscles and mind and can help improve focus, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
2. Stand when you are not working
Your best bet for avoiding sitting for long hours is to do the opposite: stand. You can make it a practice to stand to do simple things like watching TV, making phone calls, drinking water, or taking short walks.
Also, while standing, you could stretch a bit, squat, or swing your legs back and forth; one after the other.
3. Set standing reminders
Do you know how to set reminders for your meds, a run, a deadline, and so on? Good! You can also set regular reminders to avoid sitting for long hours. It’s possible to get occupied with work and lose track of time, hence the need for reminders. It could remind you to go to the bathroom, use the stairs, or walk towards the door. The goal is to aid movement.
Read Also: Is it good to sit for long?
4. Use a desk stand
There are elevated desk stands that enable you to work comfortably, and you can incorporate them into your working hours. So, instead of sitting to use your laptop or hosting that meeting, you can use this stand. It’ll help to support your standing posture.
5. Move for no reason
You would likely feel like you don’t need a reason to move due to the truckload of work you have. You could just stand up, briefly walk away from your chair, and return to work.
6. Drink more water
Water will help you avoid sitting for long hours. The more you drink water, the more prone you are to going to the restroom to ease yourself. So, water might be that saving grace for you to keep your body healthy and save your muscles from straining.
Water also helps boost energy, which makes you want to move more. When you drink water frequently, you are more likely to pay attention to what your body needs at times.
7. Use the stairs often
Sometimes, just choose not to use the elevator. You can take the staircase to aid occasional movement.
Above all, you don’t have to compulsorily do anything rigorous to avoid the effects of sitting for long hours; a few activities that aid movement will do the trick.