A survey of 2,000 office staff found that two-thirds spent more than 60% of their time at work sitting down, with the remaining third spending more than 80% of their working day sedentary.
Over the last year, many of us have been muddling through as a tremendous level of flexibility has been expected of us. It’s time to take the reins on your life and make some subtle changes to make a big difference.
The On Your Feet Britain challenge encourages you to convert some of this ‘sitting time’ to ‘standing time’.
Doing this is easier than you think, this could even be incorporated into working life and promoted to your team as a fun and simple way to boost mental and physical health.
Here are some things you can do at work or at home to spend more time on your feet:
- Stand during phone calls
- Stand and take a break from your computer every 30 minutes
- Use the stairs more
- Arrange standing or walking meetings
- Eat your lunch away from your desk
- Walk to a colleague’s desk instead of phoning or emailing them
- Stand at the back of the room during presentations
- Schedule a daily walk
If you struggle to fit in some of these things, then other solutions such as ‘Sit-Stand’ desks can be acquired. These make it possible for you to alternate between sitting and standing when working therefore, you can still get the benefits of not sitting down for the majority of the day.
After alternating sitting and standing at work, a survey found that employees have said that they feel 87% more comfortable, 76% more energized, 75% healthier and 62% happier. You also burn 50 more calories per hour when standing!
Being on your feet and more active can have huge health benefits such as:
- Increased fitness
- Reduced risk of heart disease, stroke and other health conditions
- Stronger bones and improved muscle strength
- Reduced risk of weight gain
- Improved blood circulation
- Improved posture
- Engages key muscle groups
- Better sleep
- Kick starts your metabolism
- Better breathing and oxygen flow to the brain
There are also mental health benefits for being active and on your feet. These include:
- Increased motivation and productivity
- Reduction in stress, anxiety and depression
- Improved concentration and confidence
Sitting for prolonged periods of time each day can increase the risk of:
- Cardiovascular health issues such as heart disease and high blood pressure
- Lower back pain and neck/shoulder pain
- Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety
Replacing one hour of sitting with low exercise activities such as household chores, garden work and daily walking were sufficient to reduce all-cause mortality by 30%. Exercise reduced the same risk by 48%.
Although being on your feet has a lot of benefits, it is important to make sure that you don’t stand for excessive amounts everyday as this can lead to swelling of the legs, fatigue and so on. Having a good balance of both being on your feet and sitting is important to have. Many sources indicate sitting for around 4 hours a day is a good balance however, this is unattainable for a lot of people so the NHS advises to break up long periods of sitting with 1 to 2 minutes of activity. You can sign up to on your feet day where you will be provided with activity ideas and events to help you or your team get on your feet.
For more information have a look at these websites below;
https://onyourfeetday.com/britain/index
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/why-sitting-too-much-is-bad-for-us/
