Integrate a little standup into your workday
Outsmart those sneaky health menaces hiding in plain sight in your office, your living room and your neighbourhood coffee shop: chairs!
Prolonged sitting, it turns out, flips biochemical switches inside muscle cells that boost your odds for heart failure, and up your risk for fatal heart disease by 27 per cent and fatal cancers by 21 per cent — even if you exercise regularly.
Two new, headline-grabbing reports (one looked at 93,000 older women who sit for up to 11 hours a day; another looked at 82,000 men who sit for five or more hours outside of work) reveal that long periods of sitting — whether at work, catching up with Facebook pals on your laptop at Starbucks or glued to the tube for an afternoon of sports, old movies or Gilligan’s Island reruns — puts muscles into suspended animation.
That drops the activity of a key metabolism-revving enzyme called lipoprotein lipase by up to 95 per cent.
The result is that you burn less sugar and less fat while your health risks soar.
Fortunately, the way to cure sitting disease is simple: Wake up your muscles (especially the big ones in your legs, butt and core) with just two minutes of movement every 30 minutes. Here are our suggestions for how you can integrate a little standup into your workday and at home.
Set a timer. Use the alarm clock on your phone to remind you it’s time to rise up. Set it, then put your phone out of reach. When you get up to turn it off, try the moves below. Easy!
Plunk down for the plank. We’re big fans of this multitasking yoga pose. It’s the ultimate one-move routine that quickly works three major muscle groups: your arms, legs and core. Lie on your stomach with your feet together and forearms placed on the ground. Your arms are straight down from your shoulders to your elbows. Your toes are tucked as they are in a push up. Tighten up stomach and glutes. Then raise your body off the floor so you form a straight line from your feet to shoulders, keeping your head in line. Hold the position for a few seconds: 25 is good, 45 is better; build toward two minutes.
Take a quick walk to the bathroom or water cooler, grab a cup of joe or meet a co-worker to discuss a work issue.
Head for the stairs. You’ll burn about 29 calories climbing stairs for three minutes — proof that the steps in your office or home are really exercise equipment hiding in plain sight!
Keep the big muscles in your legs, butt and core engaged while you work by perching on a big exercise ball instead of your office chair. Do it for 10-15 minute periods every hour or two.
At home: Take a commercial break. Prime time’s 14-21 minutes of advertisements every hour give you plenty of time to move around without missing a minute of your favourite shows.