Extended Sitting In Office Unhealthy Even For Healthy People

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Common wisdom is that sitting for extended periods of time in your office isn't the greatest thing to do to your body -- though the temptation is there to do so, in order to get work assignments done (or out of sheer boredom, or some combo of both). Another bit of common wisdom has been: well, if you go to the gym every day and stay physically active in your non-work hours, it will all balance out.

WRONG.

According to new medical research, long-term sitting at your 9 to 5 damages your health regardless of what physical exercise you fit in during the rest of the day. If you're a gym rat but are still putting in hours sitting at your desk, you are still unhealthy. As reported in The New York Times:

Getting "Clean" And Kicking The Toxins Out Once And For All

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Over the past several years, I found myself settling back into a routine I thought I had left behind: eating poorly, relying caffeine and sugar as my "fuel" for the daily work grind, and kicking back at night with alcoholic beverages. My daily "ritual" didn't seem to be that much different than that of large sections of my peer group: it was all "normal" ways to stay productive, unwind, and generally "enjoy life."

My body was crap. It felt like crap.

Two months ago, I decided to attend a free "wellness" evaluation at my place of work. Blood test, body mass index, weighing, blood pressure, etc. And what the registered nurse told me shocked me. No, actually it didn't shock me at all. But it was bad:

Exercise Strategies For Stationary People

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In my busy 9-to-5 (or -6 or -7) lifestyle -- one that largely involves sitting on my butt while my one typing hand travels over the keyboard at hummingbird-level speed -- it's hard to fit in a regular gym schedule. I know people do it all the time -- getting up earlier, fitting it into lunch -- but it has so far been a challenge for me. Needless to say, I'm pretty concerned about getting enough physical activity into my day.

However there are many ways I can -- and do! -- get more exercise in an unconventional way:

1) The Lunchtime Walk: I've discussed this a bit in my article "7 Easy Steps For Better Health." Basically, this strategy involves actually stepping outside my temperature-controlled, hermetically-sealed work environment and into the Outside. Walks can vary from ten minutes to almost a full hour, and can be both freeform ("I haven't seen this part of the neighborhood yet") or goal-oriented ("shopping!"). It doesn't matter the reason -- it doesn't even matter if you have to "bribe" yourself some days with a "reward" to make the trek (like I do with an inexpensive gift to myself, when the weather is looking uninviting). It only matters that it gets done. 

7 Easy Steps For Better Health

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I was going to add the sub-head "That I Often Don't Do Because It Seems Too Easy" -- because that's the  truth! What follows is a list of dead-simple additions to one's routine that are hard to do because they're too simple to do. "Drinking more water will make me much healthier? Drinking any water will make me healthier? Lies, lies, and crazy-talk!"

7. Eat Vegetables. 
Seriously, eat some damn vegetables. Not just veggies that have been boiled or fried within an inch of their lives...but add some fresh vegetables in there. I've gone long periods of my life barely eating any vegetables, unless you consider potato chips a valid veggie portion. My skin was literally grey from unhealthiness. And yet as crazy as it may seem that someone would go through life without getting plants in their diet, I've known plenty of people like this. The worst are the ones who insist they are getting enough nutrients from heavy meat-eating so that they don't need vegetables; those must be some really unhappy intestines.

6. Get Fresh Air and Sunlight.
This is particularly aimed at those who work in the Cubicle Nation, though some artists and writers tend to become unhealthily housebound as well. Many of us are blessed to work in progressive offices where every amenity is provided to you, including a wonderful cafeteria filled with countless (and healthy!) food choices. One may be tempted to never leave the building during the 9 to 5. But that's really, really bad -- not only because of the relatively stale air and lack of vitamin D-producing sun rays, but because such a practice seriously reduces your perspective on life. Think about it: you have this wonderful hour to yourself that you could spend doing non-worklike things, and you choose to stay in the Work Zone. That's 5 hours a week you could have used going to the library or eating at a new restaurant or meeting up with friends or dancing in the grass in your bare feet.