Recent research has highlighted the risks of sitting still for too long. Some say that sitting is the new 'smoking' for our health - it is very bad for you. If you are someone who has to sit for long periods of time, or you watch a lot of television, here are four things to do that will lessen the risk of health problems from sitting;
1. Water - Drink lots of it. Not tea, coffee, juice, or soda, just water. Water will hydrate you and help to flush out the plumbing and filters in your body. And of course you will have to get up out of your chair often to go to the bathroom.
2. Breathe - When we sit we shallow-breath, we don't breath into our stomach. Once every 30 minutes, breathe deeply into your lower rib cage by pushing out your stomach to ensure you are getting the maximum amount of air into your lungs as possible. Be careful not to induce a panic attack by taking more than 4 deep breaths in a row.
3. Stand - If you can, you should try and stand for 10 minutes every hour. More is better but 10 minutes is a start. Standing gets the blood flowing through your recently cleaned plumbing that water flushed out from point 1. If you are watching TV, stand up in the adverts.
4. Exercise - While sitting, tense your muscles tight for about one minute and then relax them. Work your way up from your feet squeezing each muscle group up to your head and then work your way back down again.
Here are some other things that you can do if you are someone who sits a lot at work;
· Get an adjustable desk that allows you to work while standing up.
· Hold meetings standing up.
· Hold 'walking' meetings where you get outside and walk around the block during the meeting.
· Use the stairs not the lift.
· Do exercises at your desk - there's plenty to choose from online.
· Shrug your shoulders to loosen the neck and shoulder muscles.
· Sit up straight, this strengthens your back muscles.
· Stretch as much as you can to release tension in your muscles.
· Exercise after work