Do you know that feeling, when your body aches from sitting too much? It can be either due to your desk/office job or due to lots of traveling that forces you to sit in the train, car, or airplane for many hours. Remember, you won’t be as effective and productive at work or any other task you are doing, when you feel unwell, uncomfortable or low in energy.
I don’t know about you, but sitting for a longer period of time makes my legs and back hurt. It makes me anxious, uncomfortable, and unwell. Many studies showed that sitting too much or a sedentary lifestyle in general, increases the risk of heart failure, (caused by high blood pressure, low cardiovascular activity,..) and also other serious health conditions and diseases.
So what do you do to prevent this from happening? Sure, an active lifestyle, but what does that mean?
Here are some simple recommendations and tricks that have helped me to change and get more active about 7 years ago:
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator
- Regular exercise, even only 20 minutes a day, including a br
isk walk, yoga, Pilates, Zumba, biking … can and WILL make a difference! - WALKING, get off your bus/train one or two stations before your actual stop, walk to your colleagues desk/office instead of emailing or calling, and get up and walk around in your office during phone calls Generally getting up as much as possible to keep moving at least once per hour for 5 minutes, to wake your body up again.
- STRETCHING to increase blood flow and relieve soreness — as a frequent traveler: believe me, even during long haul flights, it’s VERY possible to stretch and do yoga. I always get an aisle seat because it either forces me to get up and let other people out, or it provides me with the necessary freedom to get up frequently for stretching. It feels so much better and makes the time “fly by” 🙂
- Staying hydrated (with water or unsweetened tea)! This is important to keep your blood thin and to support your cardiovascular system (blood vessels) in transporting oxygen, hormones and nutrients to your cells, as well as to filter and wash out toxins and waste from your body. It also increases your metabolic rate, keeps you alert and concentrated, and prevents you from pointless constantly unhealthy snacking in between. Even if you cannot get up as much, staying hydrated will enable your body to still burn calories and transport important “things” to the right “places” of your body.
- Eat regularly! Regular HEALTHY meals are just as important for your well-being as staying hydrated, moving, and stretching! Five meals a day, consisting of 3 main meals and two snacks in between, will do the trick not only for weight loss, but also for keeping your blood sugar levels constant and YOU happy 🙂
Sounds all pretty simple, right? Sure, but I know that there are days when it’s almost impossible to get up or move often, dueto stress or tight time schedules and deadlines. Although, those times are actually the moments to stretch and relieve the most,our bodies will have to wait until the evening or sometimes even the next day.
For days like this, here are some GREAT yoga sequences that include all the poses I usually do to relieve my muscles and soreness after days of sitting more than I’d like to.
>> Yoga Sequence: “Best Yoga Poses for Desk Workers” by FitSugar
>> “12 Yoga Poses to Undo the Damages of your Desk Job” by HuffingtonPost
What are your experiences? Do you have favorite poses or tricks?
Stay yogilated and be good to yourself! 🙂