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Are you still sitting comfortably?

Are you still sitting comfortably? 

It's time to wake up and prepare your kids to go to school,  get into the car and head for your office, but the traffic you find is unbearable. You finally get to work and relieved you sit on your ergonomic seat.

 However, there is not enough time to finish your job and without realizing it, you have become one with your favorite chair and it is already noon. You decide to stand up but a force keeps you trapped in the seat and not even letting you lift your head. You keep wondering what is the invincible power you cannot overcome? It is the power of prolonged sitting.

Over the last few years human creativity has managed to design and create machines and devices under the pretext of "facilitating our lives". Unfortunately, today we are moving less than any other time in human history. Modern conveniences and forms of electronic entertainment deprive us of the simple daily movement of our recent ancestors. We do not have to move as we used to. In fact, all these means have robbed people of what is simply called movement.

The World Health Organization in 2016 warns that "increased inactivity" currently costs the world 67.5 billion dollars and 5 million lives a year.

Your body is simply not built for such a sedentary lifestyle.

The longer you stay still, the more your body is disturbed and counts the minutes you will move it again.

The basic principle is one: Our body is designed to move.

   If you took an X-ray from yourself, you would discover hundreds of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles, the purpose of which is to help you move and do what you feel from a simple posture to doing a sport. Movement helps your blood circulate. Yes, it can also do it without moving, but not for long and not very well. The lymph nodes and the lymphatic system - so important for your immune defense and for the rejection of toxins - would not drain without movement. Your skin, the largest organ in the body, is elastic and is designed to stretch with any movement you make. The discs of your spine that support your body, both when standing and moving, will collapse on top of each other if you sit and remain motionless.

The time has come for you to take action and to react but do you know how?

Just by following these strategies:

  • Remember to stand up every 20 minutes during the working day.
  • Stand up during meetings.
  • Communicate with your colleagues in person instead of exchanging emails.
  • Volunteer to stand up and get something for others.
  • Do not look at your smartphone while walking, because if you do not stumble, it is certain that you will have problems with your neck.
  • Go to the water cooler to drink water.
  • Move the bin from your office so that you have to stand up more regularly.
  • Take your lunch away from your office
  • Finally, take the stairs instead of the lift whenever you can.

And always remember that movement gives you life.

Anastasios M. Margaritis
Occupational Health& Safety Specialist.

Bsc Physiotherapy & Sports Science.
Orthopaedic Manual Therapist.
Back Mechanic Specialist.