Sitting is The New Smoking - Feb 07 , 2024 Newsletter

Are you sitting down? 🪑 You may want to stand up for this: having a sedentary lifestyle is believed to be as bad for our health as smoking. Let’s talk about it — and how we can reverse its harmful effects!

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Sitting isn’t the new smoking — it’s worse

The research has spoken: sitting down for prolonged periods of time increases our mortality risk, even after adjusting for factors like smoking, drinking and body mass index.

Indeed, a long-term study of nearly 500,000 people showed that individuals who mostly sat for the majority of their workday had a 16 % higher all-cause mortality risk and a 34 % higher mortality risk from cardiovascular disease.

But before you start to worry about the number of hours you spend sitting in front of your computer each day, hear this out: the same study has also shed light on the ways we can mitigate the health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles. (Hooray! 🎉)

Specifically, the data showed that alternating between sitting and non-sitting at work can help, and so can an additional 15 to 30 minutes a day of leisure-time physical activity. (If you’ve not heard of the term before, LTPA refers to any type of exercise that’s done outside of a person’s regular work or household duties.)

Currently, the WHO recommends between 2.5 and 5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week for adults aged 18–64. Looks like it’s time to swap out mindless scrolling with outdoor strolling! 🚶

Ways to stay active with your desk job 🤸

Since sitting 🪑 is the new smoking 🚬, we need to find ways to combat it and ensure our sedentary lifestyle isn’t making us super unhealthy. Now, this doesn’t mean that you need to hit the gym and become an athlete overnight. There are easier ways to stay active while working at a desk. 

🧍 Use a standup desk. Standing desks help you improve your posture, increase your circulation and alleviate the many negative effects of sitting. That said, standing for hours on end isn’t great, either. So, be sure to alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day.

💬 Sit on an exercise ball. Sitting on an exercise ball works your body without you even thinking about it. It engages your core, back and muscles, and improves your posture. Don’t believe us? Try it for yourself!

🏋️ Use ankle weights. Want toned legs without even getting up from your desk? Consider adding some weighted leg lifts into the mix. The plus side? No one will even notice.

🧎 Get stretching. Loosen your limbs with a few simple desk exercises. They can be done in the office, in the staff room or at home. Just be sure to give yourself 15 minutes a day to move your body.

Time to find a more active job?

Now’s a better time than ever! And with our tailor-made Get Hired Bundle, you’ll be able to fast-track your job search. Packed with 195+ pages of planners, checklists, workbooks and e-guides, you’ll have all the tools and resources at your fingertips to land your next job.

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Catch you on the flippity flip :)

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