Your Desk Job Survival Guide Has Arrived!
It’s another new week, and I am excited to get right into the topic at hand! If you’re like most people, there’s a fairly good chance that you’re forced to spend the majority of your day at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, or if you’re lucky, on a laptop while lounging on the couch. Then what do we all do after a trying day at work? We unwind with a good TV show (or with the worst season of Love is Blind yet, am I right?). That’s a lot of sitting that is directly affecting your health, and it can feel like there’s nothing you can do about it.
Where there’s a will, though, there’s a way!
Our bodies were made for movement! They were not made particularly well for sitting…
What happens to your body from sitting all day?
Increased risk, in general, of any cause of death (adults 18-64 should sit less than 7.5 hours to avoid this risk!)
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, cancer, and musculoskeletal issues
Decreased physical fitness level
Poor lung function (from slouching)
Poor circulation and increased risk of blood clots
Increased muscle and joint stiffness
Higher risk of osteoporosis
Increased insulin resistance (leads to type 2 diabetes)
Poor sleep quality
That’s an intimidating list! So, what can you do about it? The good news is that you can easily reduce these health risks — it’ll just take some intentionality.
Break it up!
The BEST approach to reducing health risks from sitting is to break it up with activity of any intensity — even 1-minute breaks are effective.
Set a timer!
Ideally, you shouldn’t be sitting more than 29 minutes without a break. Set a timer for every 30 minutes. This can seem impractical for people with busy work schedules, but we are being intentional here, right?
When your timer goes off, get in some squats to use large muscle groups, walk around, lunge, stretch — whatever you can squeeze in with the space you have!
If you have stairs nearby, try out this “exercise snack” three times per day, three days out of the week:
-10 jumping jacks
-10 squats
-5 lunges on each leg
-Quickly climb 3 flights of stairs
-Walk normally to cool down for 1 minute
Bonus Tip!
Try doing toe raises while sitting at your desk to help with your circulation. Simply keep your heels on the floor and lift your toes repeatedly,
What about getting a standing desk — won’t that mitigate the risks?
The short answer is no. It may help with some musculoskeletal and postural issues, but it won’t reduce the other health risks (and may present a couple additional challenges for some people). The main issue is the lack of physical movement, not technically the sitting itself.
Building new habits is a challenge, but no job is worth more than your health. You got this!
Hi, I'm Cassandra! I'm a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutritionist, and Pre/Postnatal Fitness Specialist based in New York City where I've also been performing in theatre and film since 2015. I began studying with the National Academy of Sports Medicine so that I could help battle the harmful effects of diet culture and body shaming I was seeing online by spreading evidence-based information that will help you lead a more balanced, healthy, and mobile life!