How Your Chair Might Be Hurting You!

We spend most of the time on our chairs sitting in front of desktops doing our office work or work from home.

Or we like lying down all day in our bed due to Covid restrictions.

Life was different before Covid both physically and mentally. I was a University student then. I had my full routine on- attending classes, spending some time with my friends after classes, taking rest, evening jog, and then going to the library every day.

Jogging in the evening and the library part was the best part of my routine then.

And then Covid-19 came. Life changed. I had to come back to my hometown during the lockdown. And I am staying here for the last 1.5 years. Life has become quite mundane here. No excitement. I spend most of my time sitting in a chair at my desk or lying on my bed.

I got worried about my health and came to know that sitting for long hours is affecting me really badly.

How Sitting For Long Is Affecting You

An average person in the world sits for approx. 7–9 hours a day.  Activities done during sitting are- Watching T.V., sitting on your desk at work, traveling, and at home.

It is considered so bad for our health that sitting is nowadays is being compared to smoking. 

Is sitting really the new smoking?

 Let's get to the point by knowing why sitting for long hours is so bad for us.

1. We are super relaxed while sitting. While sitting, our blood flow slows down. Therefore, it leads to fatty acids building up in blood vessels, which later can lead to heart disease.
2. Sitting for long hours creates Insulin resistance which can cause type 2 diabetes and obesity.
3. While sitting, an enzyme essential for breaking down fat lipoprotein lipase drops by about 90%. So, when our body can't break fats and properly process them, they are stored instead.

Honestly, while sitting at your desk might not be the equivalent of hanging out with your friends in the smoking lounge, but it very well could yield the same results.

Solutions

Here are some ways in which we can sit for long hours without worrying about health problems.

1. Get up and walk around at least every hour.
2. After every 20 minutes, briefly stretch your arms, neck, and back.
3. Try working a standing desk or replace your chair with the exercise ball.
4. Try to improve your posture by sitting straight, keep your shoulders back, chin tucked and stomach pulled toward your spine in order to keep muscles engaged, bones aligned and circulation flowing.
5. Work Out- Commit to exercise at least 4 days a week.

Make An Anti-Laziness Rule:-

Try to move as much as you can for your daily chores.

 Every minute you walk instead of sitting on a chair is a jump start to your new health goal. 

These little changes in your daily routine can help. Like

 1. Decide ahead of the time to take the stairs for anything less than 3 stairs.

2. Commit to never taking an escalator if the stairs are right next to it.

3. Decide to walk to do any errand that is less than a mile away or try to use the bike for short distances.

So, there are so many solutions that we can adopt to stay active and avoid the problems that come with sitting for long hours.

It is wonderful to take a rest sometimes. But, it is also important to take care of your health.