How to Be More Active in a Sedentary Job

If you work at a full-time job, chances are you’re sitting all day – and not just in the office. Sedentary lifestyles have become a major public health concern as physical inactivity can contribute to a host of chronic illnesses including heart disease. In fact, it’s the 4^th leading risk factor for death in the world!

When you’re at work there’s not much you can do about the sitting. You’re at work to work! If you’re wondering how to be more active in a sedentary job, you’ve come to the right place. Here are 5 ways to get moving at work (without impacting your productivity).

Walk and Talk

A lot of working in an office is emails, meetings, and phone calls. If you can, walk around the office while you talk on the phone. If you have a private office, put the call on speaker and walk around the room. Breaking up the day with frequent walk breaks helps to prevent chronic diseases, improve your mood, lower blood pressure, boost your memory, and can help you lose weight.

Make Use of Lunch

Exercising during lunch is a great way to break up a day of sitting with some movement. This doesn’t just benefit your physical health, but your mental health as well. You’ll find that using your lunch breaks to exercise boosts your happiness and productivity too.

This could mean anything from walking around the block to getting a membership at a nearby gym. You don’t have to get sweaty, or even spend the whole lunch break working out. Even dedicating 20-30 minutes to a light walk will have a positive impact.

Use a Sit-Stand Desk

Using a sit/stand desk helps you burn more calories, improves blood flow, lowers blood sugar, prevents heart disease, boosts energy and efficiency, and stretches your muscles. The biggest perk of the stand-up desk is that it allows you to easily switch between sitting and standing without having to move your things. Research shows that you should stand for 15 minutes per hour.

Ditch the Office Chair

You could ditch your office chair altogether and opt for a stand-up desk, or you can replace it with a swiss ball. Making this switch helps to correct posture as well as ensures that you’re using your muscles, even when you’re just sitting. Many of us tend to get fidgety when sitting too long, so you’ll naturally want to bounce and roll around on it unintentionally adding more movement to your day!

Just make sure the swiss ball you choose is the right size for the height of your desk.

Set a Timer

Part of staying heart-healthy is regular movement. This doesn’t just mean working out 3-4 days a week. It also means moving regularly throughout the day. According to the ADA, you should be active for 3-minutes, at least every 30 minutes. To do this, set a recurring alarm on your phone. When the timer goes off, walk around the office space, do some jumping jacks, stretch at your desk, or just stand up. This will help increase your productivity too!