How to lead a healthy life in the office

It is fashionable to say that sitting is as harmful as smoking, due to the threatening health risk involved in the era of computers.An amount of studies during the last decade has connected the prolonged periods of sedentary lifestyle with an increase in the risk of diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

A consensual statement published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine recommends people with desk work to spend two hours of the day standing or walking, gradually increasing it until it reaches four hours of non -sedentary activity during the day.

While this change in habit may seem difficult, we must take courage.Those four hours are calculated for a routine with 16 hours of vigil, says the main author of the statement, John Buckley, professor at the British University of Chester and president of the International Council for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.

If you are starting from scratch, you must sign up for the two -hour goal in the running one and then move towards the four -hour goal in the course of three or four months.

Periods of activity can be short.If you are only standing, it is necessary to do it for five minutes or more every time, Buckley says.But if you are moving, two minutes are enough to receive the benefits.

Even so, the question remains: how does that amount of hours be achieved without being sitting in a desktop?

Short movements

Ideally, you should avoid sitting for more than half an hour.A simple way to do this is to place an alarm that reminds and move every 30 minutes, says Neville Owen, head of the Epidemiology Laboratory of the Baker Institute's behavior for the study of the heart and diabetes of Melbourne, Australia.

These moments of exercise do not need to interrupt the work, says John Thyfault, associate professor at the Medical Center of the University of Kansas, who has studied the physiology of sedentary behavior.If it becomes common to use a printer in a different room or goes to the bathroom on another floor, some movement is automatically incorporated in the day.

There are also those who take a moment of rest to perform somewhat more demanding activities, such as dancing for a while.A pause of a song not only recharges the energies, but also allows the brain to rest.In addition, it is something fun, not an obligation.

This dance strategy works at home or if you work alone, but it can be a bit more uncomfortable if the office space is shared with other people, unless colleagues are convened to join.In an episode of the 30 Rock television series, the character of Tina Fey, Liz Lemon, encourages his staff to take breaks of a minute to dance.

Teamwork

The social support of co -workers is key, Buckley says: "Do not try to do these things alone, because co -workers can think they are crazy."

In this sense, it is good to try to convince key workers or office leaders so that physical activities become a joint work.

The movement also has mental benefits.In a series of experiments that Owen led to Australia, people reported feeling tired and irritable at the end of the days with long periods in which they were sitting.However, in the days when people were invited to stand regularly and do some simple exercises, a lower fatigue and greater mental alert was reported, says Owen.

There is also evidence that cuts to exercise improve performance and cognitive functions, Thyfault provides.

While there are numerous studies that indicateThat sedentary lifestyle take part of the benefits of exercising, Thyfault says that this does not mean that it is useless to go to the gym or run.

"A moment of exercise every day does not stop contributing huge benefits," he says.Only that session should not be used as an excuse to spend the rest of the day lying in a chair.

Source: The Washington Post

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