Sitting for long periods of time: Give yourself a break - stand up
An adult spends ten to eleven hours a week sitting. The fact that this prolonged sitting can become a serious health risk with consequences such as neck tension, back pain and chronic illnesses is thought-provoking.
What makes something as mundane and unexciting as sitting a potential risk to our health and performance? The lack of movement causes slower blood flow, which delivers less oxygen to the brain. As a result, the sitter feels tired, has perceptual lapses, and concentration and brain power decline. The slower blood flow also causes the blood to clot more quickly. The risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease increases. Another consequence of sitting too long is muscle slackening. This is manifested in the form of pain in the back. In addition, the spine loses mobility and stability. But that's not all: the instability of the back muscles eventually causes the abdominal muscles to slacken as well, which can lead to metabolic disorders and weight gain, among other things.
Can you compensate for this with sports?
If you do not regularly interrupt your sedentary work, sitting becomes a health risk. Then - contrary to popular belief - even sport at the end of the day can no longer compensate for the "sitting day". The consequences can be headaches, neck and back pain. But the risk of long-term consequences such as chronic diseases and weight gain is also increased by 12 % per hour spent sitting in men, and by as much as 26 % in women.
But most of us can't get by at work without sitting. No need to despair: apart from external factors, such as office furnishings, you can protect yourself with simple but effective tricks. The most important thing is to interrupt sitting as often as possible.
- Complete small tasks standing up: Even if you're not yet one of the lucky owners of a height-adjustable sit-stand desk, don't let that stop you from working while standing. Why not make a phone call standing up?
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator: Whether you're looking for colleagues, on the way to a meeting or on your way to lunch, consciously choose the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Banish printers & co. to another room: It may well make sense to place items such as office materials, filing cabinets, tea kettles or printers in another room. This way, on the one hand, you have less disturbing noise in your own room, and in the case of the printer, you prevent irritation of the respiratory tract by toner dust and also gently force yourself to get up regularly.
- Get your meetings moving: Who said that meetings always have to be held sitting down? New forms such as standing or walking meetings not only bring movement into a day dominated by sitting, but also into meetings. As a rule, standing meetings are more efficient and therefore often end more quickly.
If sitting, then properly
In addition to avoiding sitting for too long, the correct adjustment of office furniture should not be forgotten. A good office chair can be adjusted to the personal needs of its user. Screens and the position of the keyboard and mouse can also be easily changed. We often tend to use the workplace as we found it. But it would take just five minutes to adapt the workstation to our own needs.
The tips mentioned here and other tips on health and safety at the office workplace are provided free of charge by the Federal Coordination Commission for Occupational Safety EKAS with its "Prevention in the Office" campaign: www.prävention-im-büro.ch.
Author: Urs Hof is a member of the support group for the "Prevention in the Office" campaign of the Federal Coordination Commission for Occupational Safety EKAS. www.ekas.ch
