Sitting at desks is killing us

[bosshog]

I've read a lot of reports like this:

http://mashable.com/2011/05/09/sitting-down-infogr...
and
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39523298/ns/health-men...

in the last year or so. Thing is I must sit at my desk at least 9 hours a day and then I sit about on the sofa in the evening for a couple of hours.

I suspect there is a lot of truth in these findings - the thing is what the hell can be done considering I don't want to give up my career and retrain as a street cleaner!

Anyone else worry about this?

[Craphouserat]

I wouldn't worry too much about sitting all day - it's the bad posture that will kill your back. Good office chairs with proper lumbar support - keyboard/monitor at proper distance/height etc - don't curl your feet/legs under your chair etc. Most organisations will have some H+S person - after my first back operation our one came around checked how I was sitting - got me a better/expensive chair - went over the desk and gave general advice. Modern furniture at the office and at home has made us all sit all wrong - most people need to learn good posture. If you are sitting for long periods get up every 30 min for a short walk - even if its just to the water cooler - there are also gentle exercises that can be done in an office chair that stretch muscles and help relieve any tension.

Overall it's not something I'd worry too much about if sitting correctly.

[bosshog]

Craphouserat said:

I wouldn't worry too much about sitting all day - it's the bad posture that will kill your back. Good office chairs with proper lumbar support - keyboard/monitor at proper distance/height etc - don't curl your feet/legs under your chair etc. Most organisations will have some H+S person - after my first back operation our one came around checked how I was sitting - got me a better/expensive chair - went over the desk and gave general advice. Modern furniture at the office and at home has made us all sit all wrong - most people need to learn good posture. If you are sitting for long periods get up every 30 min for a short walk - even if its just to the water cooler - there are also gentle exercises that can be done in an office chair that stretch muscles and help relieve any tension.

Overall it's not something I'd worry too much about if sitting correctly.

I'm not worried about my back at all (I have a strong back from the sport I do, and I sit in a good posture) - its the other effects - blood sugar, enzyme's, circulation, etc, etc that's the worrying bit.

[spats]

I do worry about the amount of sitting in front of a screen I now have to do. I used to sell vans so spent allot of time running about, walking to the compound, chasing workshops etc. I used to go through allot of shoe leather!

But now I'm office bound and as silly as it sounds come lunch time I nip down to the car and do some cleaning. it means bending, stretching and working up a bit of a sweat.

End result clean car, and a bit of a workout without resorting to looking odd star jumping in the middle of the office!

Not sure what I'll do come winter though.

[RemainAllHoof]

Do more physical activities (sports!) that keep you on your feet. The other benefits are obvious.

[Jasandjules]

Try to spare the time getting in 30-45 mins of exercise a day - even if it's just a stroll around a park etc with the dogs.....

[mattikake]

Craphouserat said:

I wouldn't worry too much about sitting all day - it's the bad posture that will kill your back. Good office chairs with proper lumbar support - keyboard/monitor at proper distance/height etc - don't curl your feet/legs under your chair etc. Most organisations will have some H+S person - after my first back operation our one came around checked how I was sitting - got me a better/expensive chair - went over the desk and gave general advice. Modern furniture at the office and at home has made us all sit all wrong - most people need to learn good posture. If you are sitting for long periods get up every 30 min for a short walk - even if its just to the water cooler - there are also gentle exercises that can be done in an office chair that stretch muscles and help relieve any tension.

Overall it's not something I'd worry too much about if sitting correctly.

What can you say? Humans are not designed to sit down for hours at a time. No chair is ideal. Making the best of a bad situation is as good as it will ever get.

Humans already have excellent posture... for standing up and walking about! And walking about 20 miles a day. Don't let some mindless capitalist drone attempt to tell you sitting is ok. It never has been and until we evolve to sit down, it never will be.

The worrying thing, we have quite simply yet to see what 50 years of sedentry/sitting does to humans on a mass scale. All todays OAP's were far more adctive than our current generation. All we know is it won't be good.

This is why I switched (switching I.T. job still has to fill a few £££ gaps!) career to Personal Training. Even being a well educated gym user, 2 hours at the gym a day can't compete with 8 hours sedentry sitting. I've been through shoulder issues, lower back problems all of which I've managed to cure myself. The lastest is a neck issue, but I'm working on that one now too. It's all due to sitting, even in good charis and VDUs at the right height/distance.

The system wants you to work yourself to death. Get out, while you can still walk...

[Munter]

You don't have to sit. Plenty of desks are available that allow you to stand instead.

[spats]

mattikake said:

What can you say? Humans are not designed to sit down for hours at a time. No chair is ideal. Making the best of a bad situation is as good as it will ever get.

Humans already have excellent posture... for standing up and walking about! And walking about 20 miles a day. Don't let some mindless capitalist drone attempt to tell you sitting is ok. It never has been and until we evolve to sit down, it never will be.

The worrying thing, we have quite simply yet to see what 50 years of sedentry/sitting does to humans on a mass scale. All todays OAP's were far more adctive than our current generation. All we know is it won't be good.

This is why I switched (switching I.T. job still has to fill a few £££ gaps!) career to Personal Training. Even being a well educated gym user, 2 hours at the gym a day can't compete with 8 hours sedentry sitting. I've been through shoulder issues, lower back problems all of which I've managed to cure myself. The lastest is a neck issue, but I'm working on that one now too. It's all due to sitting, even in good charis and VDUs at the right height/distance.

The system wants you to work yourself to death. Get out, while you can still walk...

Thats it, when I get home tonight the Bike is coming out for a quick blast.....





....then maybe a stop off to grab a kebab after

[Fatman2]

mattikake said:

What can you say? Humans are not designed to sit down for hours at a time. No chair is ideal. Making the best of a bad situation is as good as it will ever get.

10/10 for entertainment and I agree to some extent but sadly you should know the buttocks are very well designed for people to sit down and to take the weight off one's feet. Why do you think there's so much cusioning? We don't have that level of shock absorbtion in our feet

Humans are equally well disposed for sitting/standing for long periods and modern chairs are much better designed than the rocks that cavemen used to sit on many moons ago.

By your rationale we need to educate the feline species as they've been supremely designed for running/jumping/hunting etc. but all my cats ever used to do all day was fking sleep

[mattikake]

Fatman2 said:

mattikake said:

What can you say? Humans are not designed to sit down for hours at a time. No chair is ideal. Making the best of a bad situation is as good as it will ever get.

10/10 for entertainment and I agree to some extent but sadly you should know the buttocks are very well designed for people to sit down and to take the weight off one's feet. Why do you think there's so much cusioning? We don't have that level of shock absorbtion in our feet

Humans are equally well disposed for sitting/standing for long periods and modern chairs are much better designed than the rocks that cavemen used to sit on many moons ago.

By your rationale we need to educate the feline species as they've been supremely designed for running/jumping/hunting etc. but all my cats ever used to do all day was fking sleep

I take it this was all in jest?

The majority of that padding in your rse is muscle. 3 major ones actually. It's only "padding" if you're... deformed or fat (same thing? ). Your Glutes power your ability to walk.

Humans evolved big muscles in their rses because we walk and run lots (and lots and lots) and on two legs. We didn't evolve them in advance to have something nice to sit on later. If that were true, anything that sits down - cats, dogs etc. would have a nice padded rse and they don't.

So this must be jest or you've got the basics of how evolution works completely backwards.

[Fatman2]

I was only messing about so don't take it too seriously

Although in seriousness, mankind has been sitting since the day we evolved from fish. It's perfectly natural to rest one's feet in the evening after a hard days work. We are social animals by nature and so rest accompanies play.

I agree with you that the 'hard days work' bit has gotten all messed up though and sitting down is partially to blame.

The biggest factor in our lifestyles though (IMHO) is not how sedentary our lives have become but just how food has become such a widely available resource.

[mattikake]

I did wonder. You can never be too sure with some people on PH!

With food and exercise, I say it's an equal 50/50 double whammy. Certainly in my experience of gym exercise and diet for effective results.

[Neutral_Nas]

What would you prefer sitting at a desk, or sitting in a driving seat all day??

[superkartracer]

Thread Bumps, interesting one this.

Anyone using a standing desk?

[Xaero]

The standing desks are starting to get quite popular in the more modernised American companies from what I've seen.

[Cheib]

I've had a desk job for twenty plus years but have been going to see a personal trainer once a week for the last ten years doing predominantly core and back work. Prevention is better than cure.

[bosshog]

Cheib said:

I've had a desk job for twenty plus years but have been going to see a personal trainer once a week for the last ten years doing predominantly core and back work. Prevention is better than cure.

Yeh doesn't really matter though (it helps though) from what I've read. Its the period of inactivity not the amount of activity in a 24 period. I go to the gym most days, but I'm still sitting still for 8/9 hours. I can dig out an article out if you don't believe what I've read.

[Cheib]

bosshog said:

Cheib said:

I've had a desk job for twenty plus years but have been going to see a personal trainer once a week for the last ten years doing predominantly core and back work. Prevention is better than cure.

Yeh doesn't really matter though (it helps though) from what I've read. Its the period of inactivity not the amount of activity in a 24 period. I go to the gym most days, but I'm still sitting still for 8/9 hours. I can dig out an article out if you don't believe what I've read.

Oh yes...when I said "prevention is better than cure" I suppose I meant it helps fight the issues than mitigate completely. I always get up and walk around etc fairly regualrly. In my last job they were actually very good about this they used to get a specialist in who would basically fit your chair and desk height to you. The reality is that you can have the most expensive/fanciset chair but if the desk is the wrong height it's the wrong height. Clearly the desk for someone 6ft 6in tall should be different for someone 5ft tall but most firms have desks that are a fixed height.

You can try sitting on a swiss ball instead of a chair but that's something you need to work up to and you need to have good core stability before you do that really.