Desk Job Getting You Down? You Can Still Be Active!

Get active with These 5 Tips!

Sitting too much is simply hard on the body. Excessive sedentary behavior—common and seemingly “unavoidable” if you have a desk job—can increase the risk for back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, and other types of work-related musculoskeletal injuries. How much time do you spend in a chair or on a couch? Did you realize that sitting for 6-8 hours per day—or watching 3-4 hours of television—has been shown to increase the risk of chronic illness and early death? It’s stunning research, especially considering that the average American sits as much as 12 hours per day! It isn’t always easy to stay active, especially if you’re working a desk job. However, getting active can vastly improve your health, your comfort, your mobility, and your overall quality of life.

At our physiotherapy clinic, it’s our mission to help people move better and feel better—and minimizing chair time is a huge part of this.

There are several easy ways to increase your activity level that most people can include in their daily routine.

Talk to our physiotherapist staff if you’d like to set up an appointment and get going on a treatment plan that will help you start feeling (and standing) better than ever. In the meantime, check out these tips for increasing your physical activity during your workday.

Ready to get moving while on the job? These 5 tips can help get your more active!

1. Give yourself the option to stand

Many companies now offer sit to stand desks because they’ve seen the research: employees who get to stand more may experience increased job satisfaction, alertness, and productivity—while also reducing their risk for the physical effects of “sitting disease.”

Even if you can’t get an adjustable desk for your office, it may be possible to make your own DIY version with some sturdy boxes and other material. Get creative…and don’t hesitate to ask your supervisor or office manager about investing in adjustable desks or attachments.

2. Get help with technology

Wear a pedometer to track your steps and motivate you to get up and move around the office more often.

Also, consider setting a timer to go off once per hour to alert you when it’s time to take a break from sitting and get out of your chair.

3. Opt for the stairs instead of the elevator

Physical activity may not be able to offset all the negative effects of sitting too much, but it may help some to get you more active.

Meeting the American Heart Association’s minimum recommendation of 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise is important, but those “non-exercise” activities add up, too.

So: park farther away from the office, take the stairs, and if necessary, talk to a physiotherapist about custom orthotics and other strategies to make activity more comfortable.

4. Drink more water

Drinking at least one third to one half your body weight in fluid ounces per day can keep your body properly hydrated.

It’ll also force you to get out of your chair more, because you’ll find yourself needing to relieve yourself more often!

Keep a stainless steel or glass water bottle handle, drink regularly, and thank your body for the frequent signals that are sending you to the bathroom.

5. Get moving in your meetings

Instead of holding your meeting or phone calls while sitting in a boardroom, see if it’s possible to take that appointment on the move and talk while you walk.

Bonus: walking has been shown to boost creativity and problem solving!

When in doubt, physiotherapy has got you covered!

If you’re suffering with symptoms of an inactive lifestyle, physiotherapy can help. A physiotherapist can help you by providing manual therapies that can increase your flexibility and improve range of motion. An experienced therapist can also give you simple exercises you can do at home to become more active.

A physiotherapy program can be created that addresses your individual needs. It’s important to stay as active as possible to keep your muscles, tendons, and joints flexible and moving without pain and stiffness. You’ll want to add some type of exercise to your daily routine to keep moving.

You can pursue any or all of these aforementioned activities at your leisure, or you can ask our physiotherapist about integrating them into a full-scale physiotherapy program. The latter approach could prove especially wise if you’re rehabilitating an injury, unsure of your exercise tolerance, or battling a particular chronic pain issue.

Our physiotherapist can evaluate your health and prescribe the right activities for your needs and goals.

At the same time, you may be able to enhance the benefits of your activities with other safe, helpful modalities such as massage, ultrasound therapy, dry needling, cold and heat treatments, acupuncture or laser therapy.

These therapies can promote tissue repair, ease inflammation, reduce pain, and increase your ability to keep moving and having a great time.

Need more assistance? We can help!

The bottom line: sitting for too long just isn’t good for your body or your lifespan.

Our physiotherapy staff can help you manage an injury or condition that has limited your standing tolerance, and get you on your feet with greater confidence. Call us today to schedule an appointment!

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7 Secrets Toward Motivating Yourself to be Active

For many of us, staying in shape can turn into an “all-or-nothing” attitude. Maybe we had a long day at work, or maybe we have to drive our kids to their extracurricular activities, or maybe it’s dark and cold and we simply don’t want to put in the effort. These are common excuses, and we all feel them. By the time you get home from work, it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to work out, on top of everything else you have to do. However, there are some simple tips you can add into your daily lifestyle that can allow for more physical activity, without having to hit the gym!

1. Take the longer and more difficult route.

We generally try to get from one point to another in the quickest way possible. We take elevators, we park close to entrances, we enter and exit the doors nearest to us… But other than saving time, this doesn’t add any long-term value. Try making it a habit to take the stairs at work or to park at the back of your grocery store’s parking lot. These simple acts can add significantly more physical activity to your daily life.

2. Get your steps in during lunch.

We all get a lunch break, and we can easily use that time to make healthy decisions. Instead of eating at the office cafeteria, walk down the street to order food (and make sure to get something healthy!) Or, you can use your entire lunch break to take a walk or go to the gym. By opting to do this, you can bring a bagged lunch and eat at your desk either before or after your exercise. This will give you a designated period of time every day for physical activity.

3. Invest in a standing desk.

This may be one of the easiest ways to get exercise – simply by standing in place! While it may not seem like much, standing is significantly healthier than sitting. You burn more calories by standing, and it is incredibly helpful to your posture as it decreases the ability to slouch or hunch over. It also helps in keeping blood sugar steady after a meal, and it encourages more movement overall.

4. Trick yourself into getting up more often.

Ideally, we’re supposed to get up and move around every 30-60 minutes throughout the day to initiate stronger blood flow, and to allow our bodies to stretch and warm up. But how many of us actually do that? (The answer – not many.) However, you can achieve this by tricking yourself into getting up more often. Maybe you use a smaller glass for your water than usual, so you have to get up and go to the sink every time you finish it. Or, maybe you make a trip to the copy room every time you have to use a stapler or hole puncher, instead of keeping your own on your desk. By ridding yourself of these small “conveniencies” that we create for ourselves, you’ll be able to get up and move around much more than you would otherwise.

5. Do chores every day.

By doing chores for 20 or 30 minutes a day, organizational experts believe you can achieve a cleaner and healthier lifestyle. In addition, you can also get a bit of a workout in! Vacuuming, doing dishes, taking out the trash, and doing laundry all demand physical activity. By taking time out of the day to do chores around the house, you’ll be able to get exercise AND do the tidying up that you’ve been putting off. Win/win!

6. Keep your equipment in sight.

Keep workout equipment in an easy-to-see view around the house. Lay your yoga mat out in front of the TV. Keep your 5-pound weights on the side of the desk. By keeping your equipment in sight, it’ll increase the probability of you using them (because let’s face it, who’s going to rummage through their hall closet to find their yoga mat at the end of the day?) Make it a habit of working out around the house while doing your daily activities, such as watching the news, cooking dinner, or even sitting at your computer.

7. Don’t procrastinate getting physiotherapy treatments.

Physiotherapy is helpful in addressing the aches and pains that may keep you from pursuing your active lifestyle. Many physiotherapy sessions are also workouts in themselves, meaning that you’ll be getting physical activity by attending your treatments. Your physiotherapist can also be used as a great resource when looking for advice on remaining active and adding more exercise into your daily habits. If chronic pain is an issue, your physiotherapist can show you specific moves that streamline the physical challenges.

If you have pain that’s keeping you from maintaining an active lifestyle give our office a call today. We’ll be happy to discuss how physiotherapy can help you live a pain-free and more active life.

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