“Get Up Stand Up”
A recent article from the British Journal of Sports Medicine has claimed that "Sitting down for too long can cause a range of health problems, even among those who exercise regularly." Doctors from the Karolinska Institute and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm said that the only way to minimize the effects was to cut the amount of time that we spend inactive. “In the future, the focus in clinical practice and guidelines should not only be to promote and prescribe exercise, but also to encourage people to maintain their intermittent levels of daily activities [that involve movement].” I continually stress this to my clients. Exercise is your training ground. Your life, all day every day, is where you implement that training. They are not separate but influence and evolve within each other.
One effective way to reach the goal of "less sit, more action" is the concept of the stand up desk. That may seem a bit unorthodox to some but there's no arguing its ability to reduce ones sitting time, especially for those in an office setting. A personal training client of mine has adopted this approach and has had great success with it, you can read about it here.
Bottom line, consistently look for ways to move. If you are sitting right now reading this get up, go outside if possible, and move those legs.
Greg Finch
FORM Fitness