It’s hour 6 of your 8 hour shift where you feel like you have been trapped at your desk for much longer than what the clock indicates. You start to find yourself fidgeting more in your chair, shifting one direction to the next to avoid the next chapter of this 8 hour day. But, it happens. The shoulders start to ache, the neck doesn’t feel right, you start to contemplate if one or two of your fingers are going numb because of your posture or if it has been resting on your keyboard for so long. Then the low back pain starts knocking and no it’s not an option to stand up for the fear of the catching sensation and having to overcome the tightness and weakness you feel through out your lower extremities. Sound familiar? Sitting and being trapped at your desk for hours on end has been seen as the new smoking. It’s dangerous. It’s unhealthy. It leads to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, back and neck pain and other orthopedic problems.
Not so fun facts:
– An Australian study in 2008 reports that every hour of television watched after age 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8min where smoking a single cigarette reduces life expectancy by 11min
– The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks physical activity as the FOURTH biggest preventable killer globally, with an estimated 3.2 million deaths annually
– The average American spends 13 hours a day sitting (work, meals, computer at home, TV watching, sitting on your way to work)
– Some form of back pain is seen in 8/10 along their lifetime and is the leading cause of disability worldwide according to the National Institute of Health
So how do we save the desk jockey from this terrible path?
1. Utilize a standing desk if possible
2. Take frequent trips around the office to improve blood flow (will shock you that it will actually improve vs hinder your productivity)
3. Set a silent alarm on your phone to correct your posture every 30min
4. Combat tightness and core inactivity with these pictured exercises
