We’ve all got the ‘sits’ and it’s killing us

IF THERE’S one thing holding us back it’s sitting at our desks all day, says Tim Robards. But do these simple things and you’ll notice a huge difference.

THIS is not the first story written about how bad prolonged sitting is for us. Nor will it be the last.

I am passionate at simplifying health for people and this is one of the most devastating, yet simple things we are doing that is killing us.

For some people it’s laziness or not knowing any better, while for some it’s being bound to a computer to earn a living. Whatever your excuse is, I can assure you that a few healthy habit changes now will protect you from shelling out on prescription medicines, surgery and no longer being able to do what you want to do later in life. Extended sitting actively promotes so many chronic diseases rampant in todays society, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, even when you’re fairly fit.

Vigorous exercise is better than none but its hard to counteract the adverse effects of prolonged sitting. And the average office worker is sitting for 13-15 hours a day!

So the breakthrough in correcting this issue is … get moving. It’s simple. Exert your body against gravity and avoid sitting for much longer than three hours a day.

You don’t have to vigorously exercise in a park with your shirt off like Tim (well not every day), just get off your seat!

Pretty much any type of movement will do but body weight exercises are a great place to start for people of any fitness level.

Within minutes of standing up, the systems mediated by insulin that process blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol are activated. We forget how much simply carrying our body weight on our legs can kick us into ‘activity’ rather than ‘inactivity’

With a lot of information fed to us on the importance of calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones, one of the biggest factors is weight bearing exercise. Fossil records suggest that when early man traded their hunter-gatherer lifestyles for a more sedentary one, it resulted in a less dense bone structure.

Now we all need rest and its great to kick back and put your feet up. But please understand that rest is meant to break up activity, and not the other way around. If everyone was able really understand this concept and implement this into their lives I truly believe we would have a huge drop in people suffering from chronic disease and be a healthier and happier community.

Rest is meant to break up activity, not the other way around. So Tim is using his rest time (in between swims) to do some work. It looks tough.

Here are a few habits that you can implement right away

1. Stand up at the desk whenever you answer or make a phone call

2. Have a small glass of water at the desk that you always have full. When you have a mouthful, get straight up and fill it up again. Aim to have minimum 10 minutes standing every hour when at desk

3. Walking meetings — replace the coffee and notebook for a walk and your phones dictaphone if needing to take notes. Siri is getting much better these days

4. Get yourself an exercise tracker to track your steps. Aim to get 10,000 steps a day on top of your general exercise. Park a little further from work, take the stairs, walk at lunch.

5. Get yourself a stand up desk converter. These are relatively cheap and can sit on your existing desk. They have the ability to covert your desk form sitting to standing in a matter of seconds.

Dr Tim Robards is a Chiropractor and exercise scientist (B. Med. Sc, M. Chiro) and regular news.com.au columnist. His observations and research into what people really need to live a healthy life and thrive in their environment has lead him to develop The Robards Method. You can follow Tim on Instagram and Twitter.