5 Tips Toward Sitting Healthy at Work from your Chiropractor

You find yourself hunched over staring at your computer screen, holding the phone in the crick of your neck, and wondering, “what the heck did I do to my back?!” Guess what? Many of these habits you adopt sitting at your desk could be hurting you.

Research shows that sitting for long periods of time may contribute to heart attack, stroke, and death risk (to name a few). Dr. Hidde Van der Ploeg and colleagues at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health in Australia found that sitting for 11 or more hours per day increased risk of death by 40 percent, regardless of other activity levels.

It’s time now to be proactive and take a look at our overall work environments to improve them. Here are 5 tips to help you through the long hours of sitting at work:

1. STAND UP - Take your phone calls standing up, if possible walk around your office while you talk. If you cannot pace, stand in place and shift weight back and forth from leg to leg.
2. TAKE A WALK - After lunch take a quick walk, if that is not an option schedule a time in the day to take a quick walk. Opt to get the mail or get up out of your chair to ask a colleague a question.
3. UNCROSS THAT LEG - Be conscious about how you sit at your desk. Simply sitting with your leg crossed rolls your pelvis forward, which may lead to more posture problems in the future.
4. WORK IT OUT - Mini Breaks are great for a quick office work out or stretch. Instead of grabbing an unhealthy snack or looking at Facebook on your break do some lunges, abs, or jog in place. Anything to get you out of that seat!
5. FIX THAT MONITOR - Adjust your computer monitor to the appropriate level. Situate both your computer and keyboard so that they are centered and you are facing them directly. Make sure the top of the computer monitor is at or slightly below eye level so that you can see it clearly without looking up.