You will be surprised to learn that sitting too much can kill you, even if you exercise regularly. Some of the immediate health risks you may run into due to prolonged sitting include fatigue, stiffness, lower back pain, shooting pain down on one or both legs and it is also a prerequisite to some of the most dreaded lifestyle conditions such as obesity and diabetes. But this is not all.
Sitting for too long is believed to slow down the metabolism rate which will, in turn, affect the body’s ability to regulate blood pressure, blood sugar and break down the body fats more efficiently. As if this is not enough, a study recently published in Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that there exists a direct relationship between the amount of time one spends sitting and their risks of early mortality of any cause. It implies that as you total sitting time increases, you are also increasing your chances of dying an early death occasioned by any cause.
Many adults today spend more than seven hours sitting or lying every day. Either they are working behind a computer desk, studying, doing homework, traveling by car, bus or train, or simply being sedentary by sleeping on the bed.
The majority of people who are at high risks of suffering the detrimental consequences of prolonged sitting are those who spend long hours in the office behind a desk. With the realization that too much sitting is not good for the health, it is important for this category of people to find solutions that will be more forgiving to their health, while at the same time ensuring they remain productive at the office.
And the good news is that already there is such a solution and it comes with the use of a standing desk along with a treadmill that fits under desk to give you the pleasure to work while walking or standing. It is akin to killing two birds with one stone, in the sense that you will enjoy maximum productivity, while you also take care of your physical health at the same time. If you are wondering just how this is beneficial to your health, here are the incredible benefits that come with standing or walking while working-
Benefits of Standing & Walking While Working
- Reduces the risk of obesity and weight gain
Weight gain comes about when you consume more calories than you can burn. The majority of caloric burn in the body is due to the energy your body uses to keep you alive. Every person has a varying metabolic rate based on their body composition and size, age, genetic makeup, sex, diet composition and hormonal control amongst other factors. It implies that every individual needs a different number of calories to stay alive.
With regards to weight gain, any calories consumed more than what is needed by the body for metabolism will be stored in the form of fat if they are not shed off by physical activity. While exercise remains one of the most effective ways of doing away with the excess calories, deciding to work while walking or standing will help you burn more calories compared to working when sitting down. Consequently, you have reduced risks of being obese or gaining more weight when you work while walking or standing as opposed to spending lots of your time on a char.
- Reduces Lower Back Pain
Spending a lot of time sitting at the office can cause a lot of problems to your lower back, not to mention other joints and muscles that will equally take a beating for being sedentary for long. In other words, our bodies were never designed to tolerate prolonged sittings, but instead, they were made to move now and then. Static posture on a chair exerts a lot of pressure on the neck, back, shoulders and the arms. All these pressures, coupled with poor ergonomic positioning, ends up accumulating in the lower back, which then begins to hurt and cause a lot of pain.
On a standing posture, such as when working while standing or walking, there is no pressure on the lower back as there is an equal distribution of the body weight, and it is the soles that absorb most of the pressure. If you are experiencing lower back problems and have been sitting for long times, maybe it is a good time to consider working while standing or walking on a treadmill.
- Reduces the risk of heart diseases
Working while walking or standing comes with a lot of positive effects on your heart health. When you walk, your heart rate goes up. With increased heart rate, blood is delivered more efficiently to all parts of the body, thus ensuring that vital nutrients and oxygen also reach their destinations quickly and efficiently. The increase in physical activity also strengthens your heart, which in its very composition is a muscular organ. And as discussed above, working while walking or standing will help you avoid being obese and lose more weight, which is also vital in avoiding a myriad of heart complications. All these benefits are not available to you when you spend hours upon hours sitting on a chair.
- Boosts creativity and increases productivity
Improper diet and lack of physical exercise are known to interfere with the proper functioning of the brain, which will ultimately, have an impact on your focus. Such is also the result of sitting for long hours and matters become worse when fatigue sets in. It implies that there will be no sufficient blood flow to all your vitals and your creative capabilities will simply go to sleep.
But when you work while walking or standing on a treadmill, you not only increase the blood flow to vital organs such as the brain but also it leads to the release of certain chemicals known to aid creativity and productivity. Besides, when working when standing or walking, you are not prone to muscles and joint pains which can sometimes be a cause of great distraction and a sure productivity killer.
- Enhanced Posture
Spending a lot of time on the chair will eventually take a toll on your posture as well. This is particularly true if proper ergonomics are not considered, with no regards to the type of chair used as well as how the computer is positioned relative to your upper body, especially the position of your eyes. Eventually, there will be a lot of strain on your back and neck which will then affect your overall posture.
You may find that you have lost the normal straight posture, and instead, you begin to stoop at the neck level or the back. Working while standing or walking, however, will never lead to a distorted posture. This is because your spinal code is maintained in a straight position throughout the time, not curving or bending as is the case when you sit for long.
Conclusion
A plethora of benefits awaits you when you decide to work while standing or walking and not sitting behind a desk. If you have been sitting for long, your body is probably taking a beating of prolonged sitting and switching to standing or walking treadmill would be the best gift you can give to your body at this time.
You will not just be saving yourself from grave medical problems, but also giving yourself a chance to be healthier, happier and more productive at work.