Staff Writer
The average school day is seven hours long. As a
student, how much of that time are you sitting down? Almost every class is
spent in a seat, and not many people regularly eat lunch on their feet. On an
average day, a person spends 9.3 hours sitting down. Combine the hours spent
sleeping, and it adds up to a generally inactive lifestyle. Recent research
suggests that sitting decreases your life expectancy by several years.
According to a study published in the British Journal
of Sports Medicine, long durations of sitting seriously damages health,
regardless of any outside exercise activity. Of course, exercising in general
will increase your life expectancy, but sitting regardless, is bad for your health.
Being inactive for longer than an hour will increase your risk for mental
illness, decreased circulation, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood
pressure. The fourth biggest killer of adults is inactivity, according to the
World Health Organization.
Dr. Emma Wilmot of Diabetes UK, said, “If a worker
sits at their desk all day and then goes to the gym, while their colleague
heads home to watch TV, then the gym-goer will have better health outcomes.”
But she added, “People convince themselves they are leading a healthy
lifestyle, doing their 30 minutes of exercise a day, but they need to think
about the other 23.5”
Sitting less encourages people to be more physically
active on a regular basis. A little bit of exercise can go a long way. A good
rule of thumb is to get up at least once an hour and move. This is in addition
to exercising at least thirty minutes a day.
Some may find it hard to move around, especially for
full time students or desk job workers. The trick is to take little breaks
whenever possible. Get up and sharpen your pencil, or physically go and talk to
someone instead of sending an email. Clean up your desk area or take the long
route to the bathroom. To combat inactivity during the day, try basic muscle
exercises in your chair. Chiropractors say your desk chair should be at the
proper height to reduce neck and back strain. For non-adjustable chairs, your
rear should be touching the back of the chair and spine straight.
In order to maintain movement throughout the day, try
these simple stretches:
• Neck
Stretch: Touch your ear to your shoulder and hold it for ten seconds on each
side.
• Leg
Stretch: Extend one leg out in front of you and hold it for a set time. Repeat
with other leg.
• Spinal
Stretch: Sit up straight and put your left hand on the desk and the right on
the back of the chair. Twist to the right and hold. Twist to the left and hold.
• Shoulder
Stretch: Touch right and left shoulder blades together. Hold.
• Push
Stretch: Place your palms on your desk and push against the desk downwards as
if trying to push it into the floor. Keep up until muscles get tired.
• Shrug
Stretch: Push both shoulders up towards ears in a shrug like motion.
• Ankle
Stretch: Roll your ankles in circular motions both ways.
• Marching:
Do an in place march under your desk.
