TAKE A STAND: BENEFITS OF MOVING THROUGHOUT THE DAY
HOW ADDING MORE MOVEMENT TO YOUR DAY CAN BENEFIT OVERALL HEALTH
Blog content from Mike Avery, Senior Health & Wellness Director
Cars, desk jobs, TVs and computers have all reduced our activity drastically from previous generations, and we find ourselves sitting more than ever. Just think of your day and how it stacks up to the average American: The average US worker with an office job sits roughly 66-75% of the workday. With less than 20% of jobs including physical exertion, that leaves many on their backsides. This, combined with heading home to relax by watching TV, has the average American spending more than half of their waking hours completely sedentary and in very poor postural positions. It’s not only the overall time you sit in a day, but how much sitting you do at once that can also damage your cardiovascular health and overall wellbeing. All this sitting can have some serious effects on our health, leading to long term illness and injury.
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO? MOVE – AND MOVE OFTEN.
If you have a job that requires you to be at a computer, try doing the “Three after 30” rule. Every 30 minutes, get up to stretch and move for three minutes. Now that many of our roles have moved to our homes, we have more freedom to start moving. Sneak in some Health and Wellness videos on YouTube; a few stretches to counter poor posture; a brisk walk mid workday or in one of your breaks. It’s not only our workout routines that we should strive for consistency but also our consciousness of inactivity. Don’t underestimate the power of frequent low-level activity and its benefits. Your body is made to move and if it doesn’t, it might just get used to it!