Why is it so important to move more throughout the day?

January 26, 2016

Movement benefits general fitness and cardiovascular health, lack of movement or sedentary behaviour has become the norm – we sit at desk jobs, sit at school and we sit on the couch at home. In fact, recent research findings are revealing that sitting too much during the day can be detrimental to an individual’s health.

Sitting down for too long can lead to fairly serious problems such as:

Weight gain
Poor muscle tone and posture
Increased risk of developing disease such as heart disease.

Even if we are physically active for at least 30 minutes every day, it’s still important to avoid sitting for too long throughout the rest of the day.

Sit less, stand up and move more throughout the day

It may not sound like much, but breaking up sitting time makes a big difference.

Try adding these simple activities to your day:

Stand up at least every 30 minutes when ever you can
Regularly change posture
Move your arms and legs
Stretch
Walk around

At work

Take short regular breaks from sitting
Stand up to use the phone
Think about using your feet first and walk to see colleagues instead of emailing
Stand up at meetings
Have walking meetings
If you have to sit down for long period change posture often and move and stretch muscles
Even standing up for as little as a few minutes may help lower the health risks
Park the car further from the shops and walk there

At home