Lets talk about something that we all know we shouldn’t be doing, however cannot stop. Its like
binge watching Netlix, getting stuck on social media, eating ice cream every night or drinking alcohol daily. While your doing it, it may seem OK or even feel like your body needs it. It may seem like you have no other options. But afterwards we always regret it or at least we should. What am I talking about?
Sitting all day!!
After a long day sitting at the office, your body feels exhausted. You may hit the gym for a workout or join a class with friends. After that, you’ll definitely feel beat and want to sit down, relax, watch netlfix and eat pasta; just a combination of bad habits =(. But why do we do this? We all know that sitting long periods is bad for us. Why do we do it the whole day? And justify sitting and not moving the whole day with a 45min workout 1 – 3 times per week or owning a standing desk and not using it. Stress
We all have different methods to relieving stress. Unfortunately, Netlflix, social media and unhealthy drinking and eating habits have all become our methods. If this weren’t bad enough, what do all of these things “require” us to do? Yes, sit. So in order to relieve stress, we are forced to sit.
Comfort
Lets face it, we like things to be convenient. Hop in the car for the direct path home, groceries delivered to our 4th floor door or extremely high beds that makes it easy for us to get up in the morning. Being comfortable is everything. Unfortunately, sitting in a comfortable chair has become a part of our life. Whether if its in a nice ergonomic office chair or a XXL Sofa, we love for it to be comfortable. One thing we must realize however is that there is no healthy way to sit in a chair all day.
Regardless of its comfort level, you are still sitting. I think we all know that sitting in front of a screen all day is not good. Let me just repeat some areas that are negatively impacted by sitting:
- mental
- posture
- joint
- digestive system
……….
You may not think sitting is the cause for your mental or digestive system issues. That’s ok. However, I hope you realize that your postural imbalances and joint pain are related to you sitting for long periods.
So what can we do?
I am not here to tell you to stop after work Netlflix, social media or unhealthy eating and drinking habits to relieve your stress. Keep doing that if you need it. Just ask yourself if there may be other ways to relieve your stress that you can try.
So if you are forced to sit after work, this means you will have to do get active and stop sitting during work. Home-office provides us with the perfect opportunity.
Get on the floor
Have you ever tried sitting on the floor while working? If yes, you’d probably say that it is the exact opposite to sitting in an ergonomic chair or an XXL Sofa.
Completely uncomfortable.
Why is this good? It forces you to stay active and change positions. There are soooo many different positions to work from when you are on the floor. Different Kneeling positions, half kneeling, cross legged, butterfly, 4 ground seated position, and the list goes on. If you combine that with standing in different positions, you can easily go for 2 hours or more without sitting in a chair. Working from the floor forces us to also activate our core muscles and keep our hips mobile, things that we are lacking!
The balance pad is also the perfect tool to assist in working from the floor. You can check out my pad with a 5mm thick cork layer to provide more stability here.
So please give it a try and get uncomfortable to get healthy. Remember that there is no healthy way to sit in a chair all day, you are still siting. Try sitting on the floor which helps to open your hips, get your
core active, helps with your posture and keeps you active. If you are interested in testing yourself for the 5 fundamentals needed for proper movement click here.