By Annie Hay, Marketing Associate
90 finds unique ways to combat growing fears of sickness and physical harm caused by the sedentary work environment.
We already know exercise is good for us. But now, even if we exercise more than prescribed, sitting down is slowly killing us? Oy vey, as if we needed another excuse for intermittent coffee breaks and impromptu dance parties.
A recent study, headed by epidemiologist Steven Blair at the University of South Carolina, found that men who spend 23 hours a week or more in a sedentary state (even those who exercise regularly) have a 64% higher risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported spending less than 11 hours sitting still. In an interview with NPR, Mr. Blair explained: “If you’re sitting, your muscles are not contracting, perhaps except to type. But the big muscles, like in your legs and back, are sitting there pretty quietly” and in response, the metabolism slows. The study suggests that as people spend more time at computers, they often end up in a kind of trance and will go long periods of time without moving anything more than their fingers and lower arms.
To break it down—or inspire you to break it down:
- You aim for around eight hours of sleep every night.
- If you are one of the few Americans actually following suggested C.D.C. exercise guidelines, you spend 30 minutes a day performing a moderate-to-high intensity aerobic or weight bearing activity.
- Most likely, you walk from your house to your car, your car to work, from your desk to the office kitchen to get coffee throughout the day, and then around the grocery store or Home Depot after work.
- In total, you walk or stand for a combined 2.5 hours of the day—maybe.
- For the rest of the day, particularly in this industry, you are eating with clients or reps, pounding out reports at your cubicle, or sitting in your car en route to client meetings.
This means that you may spend as much as 13.5 hours every day in a sedentary state—well over the 23 hours per week that the study suggests increases your risk for heart disease.
The numbers are daunting, yes, but the solution is a little bit more encouraging: by standing, fidgeting, dancing, or sitting on a stability ball, you can negate many of the effects. Did you ever think you would have an excuse for turning up your Bee Gees and shaking it a bit when no one was looking?
If you’ve visited the 90 office, you probably noticed how svelte and healthy we all look. Yeah, we live in Denver, one of the U.S.’s fittest cities, but we also have rolling chairs that double as Razor Scooters and way too many stability balls. The discovery of the Michael Jackson Pandora station revolutionized 2 p.m. dance parties here, and every Thursday we get up and move to the kitchen and then to the mini-fridge for Thirsty Thursday. We get it. But, when we falter from our fit path, we always have our 90octane version of Kanye’s workout plan to remind us: with “all the mocha lattes, you gotta do [at-your-desk] Pilates.”
