How to Stay Fit While You Sit

Are you feeling the effects of sitting at a desk all day? Research shows that prolonged periods of sitting contribute to many health challenges including obesity, high blood pressure and even cardiovascular disease and cancer. Fortunately, three stress-free solutions will help you to stay fit while you sit.

Active Sitting & Standing

Do you find yourself sitting during  good chunk of your day at the office? Or perhaps you find yourself standing behind a desk for long periods of time. Either way, you can take your sitting/standing experience to the next level with a few easy solutions:

1. Balance Discs. Balance disks offer the most portable option for active sitting. Simply place the disk on any chair and enjoy the results. The micro-movements you perform while sitting will strengthen your core, increase energy and metabolism and burn calories.

2. Balance Boards. Balance boards offer a great option if you find yourself standing most of the day. Of course, standing is already better than sitting. Balance boards simply take things to the next level. Gaiam reports that balance boards help you to stabilize your muscles (which especially works out your core), stay alert and have fun while you perform tasks that otherwise occasionally appear mundane.

3. Active Chairs. Various companies sell balance ball chairs, which combine the active sitting experience with the class of the workplace, all while keeping you fit and healthy. Other chairs, such as the Turnstone Buoy, are specifically made to provide an active sitting experience at the workplace and feature a sleek design.

Standing Desks

Standing desks are a popular alternative to any of the active sitting options mentioned above. Standing will decrease fatigue, strengthen your legs and core as well as improve your cardiovascular and metabolic health.  Many standing desks can be purchased online or at a local store. Depending on your budget, however, there are many DIY tricks to make your own.

Periodic Movement

At the risk of stating the obvious, various studies have shown that periodic movement is one of the best keys to combating the sedentary lifestyle of sitting. A study performed by the University of Queensland in Australia found that standing up and walking once an hour somewhat counteracts the effects of prolonged sitting. In support of this finding, Fitbit devices notify users 10 minutes before the hour to get up and walk a certain amount of steps. Take the long way to the bathroom, stand while you eat lunch or find other ways to get active. Combing these strategies with 30 minutes of exercise each day will help you to remain energetic and active in otherwise sluggish situations.

 

What do you do to stay active at the workplace? Join the conversation! 

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Taylor Fish
Taylor is a staff writer for Multihousing Friends and a student at Brigham Young University.