This thing is sitting . We all sit too long. I also commit the sin of sitting too many hours per day, especially at week days. I had a very active honeymoon but it ended two weeks ago and looks like it's not gonna happen again.
Now I'm glued to my office chair for 8 hours and then, back home, I'm glued to my kitchen chair writing blog posts, updating overhere social media , reading about e-marketing and watching BBC documentaries to improve my vocabulary.
Fortunately, there's a thing which helps me fight with my sitting lifestyle -
I go to work on foot
. Yay!
I'm one of those fortunate people who don't care about traffic, car accidents, Tour de Pologne (this one clogs the city immensely), roadworks, etc. I've always tried to get to work on foot or by bike - it's one of the best mundane, everyday things which improve my life. I just put my trainers on and off I go.
Walking is very refreshing, both in the morning and after work. In the morning it helps me to wake up and think over some stuff which is going on in my life (typically unfinished things from the day before). In the afternoon, it helps me to disconnect from work, change my mindset from "office" to "home".
But walking isn't enough to maintain health. Cardio is needed . Breath needs to accelerate and heart needs to pump blood faster.
So I run .
Besides my desire to be in shape and feel well, there's one more motivational factor. An important event's approaching - on 4 September I will participate in Katowice Business Run .
I've got to honestly admit it's not very challenging run, no breathtaking marathon or trail running. It's not even a 10-kilometres run - it's just a short charity relay race for corporate couch potatoes like me 😉 The total distance is 3.7 kilometre. Not very impressive number, I know, but the most important thing is that I can combine practising sport (helps me) with charity (helps the disabled).
Now, a few facts about the harm which excessive sitting does to us:
- the risk of varicose veins rises - the blood isn't pumped efficiently and we are prone to clots, thrombus and embolus (sounds sexy!).
- Our metabolism slows down - we burn only 60 calories per hour (for comparison, leisurely stroll will make us burn about 228 kalories per hour).
- Slow metabolism leads to overweight which, we all know, is damn harmful to everything.
- Sitting after a meal may cause cramps, bloat and constipation - abdominal vitals are constricted when we sit.
- After 2-hour sitting the level of good cholesterol decreases by 20%.
- After 12-hour period of immobility the risk of diabetes rises by 10%.
- If we sit for more than 8 hours on a daily basis, the chances of having diabetes rise to 90% (in comparison to physical workers).
- White collar workers have cardiac and circulatory issues twice as often as blue collar jobholders.
- Sitting lifestyle leads to spine problems - lumbar part and neck suffer the most.
- Last but not least, our eyes suffer (eyebright compress does wonders in such cases).
OK, I guess it's high time for me to go jogging.
How many hours per day do you spend sitting? Do you practise any sport on a daily basis?
