sedentary

10 Desk Exercises You Should Be Doing Every Day

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9 Desk Exercises You Should Be Doing Every Day

A sedentary lifestyle has recently been coined the new smoking.

Can you imagine! The negative effects of sitting for a living are now rivalling the known health dangers of regularly inhaling deadly poisons! Wow. Let’s do something about it!

Yes, many of us have jobs that require us to sit long hours at a computer, driving, sitting in meetings, sitting at our desk, or sitting on the subway or train.

Let’s take a few minutes every hour or two, to move, stretch, and get our blood flowing. It will not only help your body feel better, but your mind will also reap the benefits of added oxygen flow and feel the joy of movement and stretching!

It is important to be mindful of your posture while at your desk or sitting in various positions. Try to sit up as straight as possible, and don’t lean in toward your computer.

If you are straining to see your monitor, make the font larger or reposition it, as the very last thing to want to be doing is tilting your neck forward to see your screen.

Over time, this can cause your neck to begin to curve forward and create a ‘forward head posture’. This is incredibly problematic for your body because your brain must be able to send all of the information your body needs to be able to function through your central nervous system. If your bones in your neck have shifted forward out of alignment from straining to see your screen, it puts an immense amount of pressure on your nervous system (which is encased by your spinal bones) and makes it very difficult for the information to get to all of the places it must reach to have your body function and heal at 100%.

Focus on stretching your neck and back muscles, arms, shoulders and legs when you take a few moments regularly to move that body! Get your coworkers involved, as they are in the same position as you – hunched over your screen for hours on end!

Businesswoman stretching herself or exercise while working at office - office syndrome concept
Stretch your arms and shoulders.
Portrait of a young smiling woman at the desk with books on her head, sitting straight, looking at the camera. Education concept photo
Can you do this? Can you balance a book on your head and continue working? This will help to train you to sit up straight and correct your posture.
Young attractive woman at modern office desk, with laptop, stretching, getting a little exercise during the day, office workout, completing difficult task, time for lunch. Business concept illustration
Stretch! Move your arms, reach for the ceiling and feel your blood circulating.
Young attractive woman at modern office desk, with laptop, stretching, getting a little exercise during the day, completing difficult task time for lunch. Businesswoman against white isolated background. Business concept illustration.
Arch your back and stretch your arms up, reach your neck back and up and hold for 10 seconds.
Young Happy Businesswoman Doing Fitness Exercise On Yellow Pilates Ball In Office
Stretch your arms and use your chair to rest on, extend your legs and feel a stretch.
male office worker,exercising during short break in work at his desk in office
Stretch your arms out and forward, and let your arms reach back to stretch your shoulders and expand your chest with your breath.
The image of business woman doing exercise at the office
Move your body side to side and let your spine move freely and stretch.
Portrait of smiling executive exercising in office
Stretch your legs and hamstrings with the support of your desk and feel the blood reach down to your toes.
Young Businesswoman Sitting On Chair Meditating In Office
Take a moment to centre your thoughts with a mini meditation over lunch. Focus on your breath and bring your thoughts back to your breath when they flit about to other ideas.
Portrait of young smiling woman wearing suit sitting at home office desk in front of laptop stretching with enjoyment after the work is done looking at screen with happy expression
Stretch your arms and wrists regularly throughout the day and remember to smile often! 

 

What is the Best Type of Exercise for My Body?

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Best Type of Exercise for My Body

There is so much conflicting information about the best way to exercise. How do you know what is best for you?

Our bodies were designed to withstand the need to make surges of speed, but not to withstand long distance running. Our ancestors would run short distances to get out of harm’s way, to chase down dinner or to help a friend in need. We were not designed to run for great distances over long periods of time.

There are many forms of exercise that bring this principle into effect, such as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), where you work out as hard as you can for a short duration of time, potentially even for only 45 or 60 seconds (which seems like a lifetime when you’re doing as many push ups as you can!!) and then resting for the same timeframe or a little less. This kicks your metabolism into high gear, adds a significant surge of adrenaline into your body to keep up with this form of exercise and pushes your body to grow and develop muscle and improves your fitness.

The opposite form of exercise would be traditional cardio. You jump on a treadmill or hit the road for 30-60 minutes of fast walking or jogging until the time is up. Sustained movement for a long period of time, generally at the same pace and difficulty level to make your body move and cooperate. Cardio can help to lower your resting heart rate, increase your good HDL cholesterol and lower blood pressure, as well as improving circulation, blood flow and lymphatic drainage.

But cardio can also cause your body to produce higher levels of cortisol which can stimulate your appetite, increase fat storage and inhibit recovery.

How is this possible when exercising is supposed to be helping you lose weight and/or get fit? It has to do with the hormones that are released with each type of exercise. Cardio can decrease testosterone production and HIIT can improve your growth hormone levels while lowering your insulin resistance to help regulate blood sugar and reduce fat storage.

What is the best form of exercise for me? How do I know?

The best form of exercise for you is the one that you will actually do!! The risks of a sedentary lifestyle are much worse than the risks involved with either HIIT or cardio. Additionally, there are many other forms of exercise that offer corresponding benefits and risks, such as yoga, pilates, rebounding, kickboxing, hiking, crossfit and many others!

So talk with your natural health practitioner about what he/she would recommend as the best form of exercise for your personal situation and do that! Fall in love with joyful movement – find something you love to do and do it often. Or mix it up and take on different forms of exercise to keep your body guessing and working toward your optimal fitness levels. Have fun!

With Sources from:

http://drhardick.com/say-no-to-traditional-cardio

Sitting Too Much is the New Smoking

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sitting

The amount of sitting that we do in a day has quickly become a concern for our health and longevity.  Studies reveal that the health impact of sitting for too many hours a day can be compared to the effects that smoking has on our health.

A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to;
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Weakened immune system.

Let’s explore some ways to ensure that you don’t fall symptom to these diseases.

Shocking!  How Many Hours Of Sitting We Do In A Day

There is the time in the car on the way to and from work.  The 8 hours at the office.  All in addition to spending time each night on the couch in front of the television, computer or on your phone.

The winter months in Canada can be particularly difficult to get motivated to work out or to be more active.  But there are some simple things that you can add to your daily routine to increase your activity level without having to brave the elements of winter.

Set A Goal To Be Active 10 Minutes Each Hour That You Are Awake!

If you wake up at 6 am and go to bed at 10 pm, then you have 160 minutes to fill with activity.  Don’t panic.  Activity doesn’t mean that you have to be actively exercising.

Activity could be as simple as;
  • Standing at your desk while you make phone calls
  • Tidying your house
  • Preparing dinner
  • Walking to the car (I suggest parking at the far end of the parking lot at work and the grocery store to increase your activity) 
  • Taking a walk on your lunch break
  • Taking a yoga or pilates class, or any other form of exercise that you enjoy

Click here to read, “10 Desk Exercises You Should Be Doing Every Day”.

If you are pressed for time to fit in exercise, try multitasking.

When you drop the kids off at their extracurricular activities, rather than sitting and waiting for them to be finished, use this time to do an impromptu workout.  Walk around the block or if the weather isn’t nice, go to a nearby shopping centre and do a quick lap around the store.

If you are prone to watching a lot of television during the winter, then during the commercial breaks, get up and do a small work out.

Do three reps of 15 squats, lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, or go through a quick yoga flow of stretches.

Get a fitness tracker and aim to hit around 10,000 steps per day.

Especially if you are the type of person that needs to visually see your progress throughout the day.

The benefits of an active lifestyle are far reaching and include;
  • Higher energy levels
  • More restful sleep
  • Lower body mass index
  • Detoxification
  • Better mental clarity

By bringing awareness to our level of activity we can easily make adjustments to our lifestyle.  All this to ensure that we are taking care good of our health and maximizing our longevity.

With Sources From:

http://www.nchpad.org/403/2216/Sedentary~Lifestyle~is~Dangerous~to~Your~Health