If You Have A Sedentary Job Follow These Guidelines

One of the biggest problems of people who have a sedentary job is that they spend a lot of time sitting. If we take into account how this can affect our health, we should be alert to change habits.

The mere fact of spending the working day sitting already represents a health risk at different levels. Regardless of regular physical exercise outside of working hours. So if this is your case, we advise you to follow these guidelines to improve the situation and minimize risks.  

How does having a sedentary job affect us?

It is a reality that more and more people carry out office work, spending long working hours sitting in front of a computer. The effects of this inactivity on people’s health have been studied for years.  

Some consequences are more obvious and we have known them for a long time: back and neck pain, muscle tension in the entire back area, and even contractures. But there are other consequences that so far have not been so valued. Surely because its effects can appear in the long term.

We know that sitting for too long is associated with an increased risk of some diseases.   Among them we would be talking about obesity, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, increased insulin resistance Y  lipid alterations.

Guidelines to adopt during the working day

The authorities’ concern about this reality is such that a specialized guide has even been published, written in the United Kingdom. This guide contains recommendations for people who have a sedentary job. Some of the guidelines he recommends following are the following:  

• Spend a minimum of 2 hours of the total working day standing. If possible, it should be increased to a total of 4 hours a day.  
• Have workers get up from their desks every now and then and go for a little walk.
• Companies should make it easier to use sitting and standing desks. So you can alternate the position and reach a total of 2 hours a day or more standing. This type of desk has long been established in the Scandinavian countries.

• Walk up the stairs.  
• Perform stretches and rotations to loosen the main joints and prevent discomfort and future injuries.  

What else can we do during the day?

As we have seen, the negative effects of having a sedentary job are not offset by the physical exercise that we can do outside of it. However, for a large number of people the problem of sedentary lifestyle goes far beyond the workplace. Today the lack of physical activity is a very present reality, even in leisure or consumption times.  

So we must act during the workday and outside of it. With some small daily gestures we can make our day to day more active:

• Get around on foot whenever possible, including going to and from work. If the distances to travel are too long, we must prioritize the use of public transport over private vehicles.  

• If we move by transport, we can increase the distance on foot a little, going down one stop earlier or parking the car a bit far from our destination.  
• It is a good idea to find times for physical exercise. This can be at home, in a gym, or outdoors. If exercise is well planned, a few short 15-minute sessions can be just as beneficial.  
• Ensure that during the time we spend at home, or in our leisure moments,   Let’s not accumulate a lot of time sitting or without moving.  

Adapt diet to activity

Food and physical exercise are two of the pillars of our state of   Health. If we can change the level of activity a little during the workday, we should put a little more emphasis on our diet to compensate. Although the main objective must be, after all, to reverse the sedentary situation.  

We must eat well and adapt our diet to our level of daily activity. We are not talking about “going on a diet”  in the sense of restricting our caloric intake. But the energy needs will be different with a sedentary job than with a more active one.  

The dietary guidelines that we must adopt are:

• Base our daily diet on fresh products, especially vegetables, greens and fruits.   They are light, and at the same time they force us to chew for a long time, which increases the feeling of satiety.
• Ensure good sources of quality protein, such as eggs, lean meat, fish or tofu. The muscles still need them even if we don’t exercise. These can not be missing neither at lunch nor at dinner.  
• Adjust carbohydrates to our physical activity.  
• Opt for fruit and natural yogurts for dessert and as snacks between meals.  
• Drink mainly water, leaving aside energy drinks, sugary drinks and fruit juices.  

Small gestures are important if you have a sedentary job

To be in good health, physical activity is as important as food, rest, and emotional well-being. We may not be able to change the nature of our job, but we can make small changes that minimize the negative effects of sedentary work.