I'd been reading a lot about how "Sitting is the New Smoking". For those who haven't come across the topic, one such article is here
( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-active-times/sitting-is-the-new-smokin_b_5890006.html ). A google search will turn up more.
We know the drill: Correlation doesn't equal causation, etc. etc. This may be an exception to that, however, as even runners and fairly athletic people who eat healthy but have sedentary day jobs can be negatively impacted by this. On the other hand, I'm not particularly athletic and I like Ramen, so yeah.
I'll post my story below, but I wanted to know: Is anyone else doing this? Is anyone interested in this sort of thing? What sort of challenges or obstacles do you face?
Here's how I came into it: I used to work retail which already required me to stay on my feet, but that was about 8 years gone, and I've been working in an office ever since. Which of course meant sitting on my butt.
A couple months ago, I dipped my toe in the water and decided to spend 5 hours on my feet. It was a challenge at first. There was the initial foot pain, back pain, etc. and am now standing for 10 hours a day (I work four days a week). For the past few weeks I've been walking (one step forward, one step back) for about 2-3 hours a day.
Interestingly enough, the main challenges haven't been physical, but mental. We only have the half-cubicle walls, so if I stand, everyone can see me. It's a weird sensation, but I eventually moved past it. Walking made that part even more challenging, but the results were worth it.
Walking also made concentrating on my work a bit of a challenge. I work customer service for a healthcare company, so juggling my calls with walking made things interesting. However, my performance is still high, and my handle times have actually gone down. I'm not sure why yet.
I'll be working from home pretty soon, and if I can save up enough scratch, I'll probably get a treadmill desk.
What I can say is that the 40 hours of standing and walking have had tremendous benefits compared to the "cost." It's time that I'm already spending at work anyway, so it doesn't intrude on my schedule or affect my spare time. Things that used to wear me out like going to theme parks or keeping up with a 6-year-old are much easier. I don't snore, I sleep better and I've lost weight.
The downside is that those old stretch marks look much worse on us guys than they do on women
Apparently we can't claim they're tiger stripes.
( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-active-times/sitting-is-the-new-smokin_b_5890006.html ). A google search will turn up more.
We know the drill: Correlation doesn't equal causation, etc. etc. This may be an exception to that, however, as even runners and fairly athletic people who eat healthy but have sedentary day jobs can be negatively impacted by this. On the other hand, I'm not particularly athletic and I like Ramen, so yeah.
I'll post my story below, but I wanted to know: Is anyone else doing this? Is anyone interested in this sort of thing? What sort of challenges or obstacles do you face?
Here's how I came into it: I used to work retail which already required me to stay on my feet, but that was about 8 years gone, and I've been working in an office ever since. Which of course meant sitting on my butt.
A couple months ago, I dipped my toe in the water and decided to spend 5 hours on my feet. It was a challenge at first. There was the initial foot pain, back pain, etc. and am now standing for 10 hours a day (I work four days a week). For the past few weeks I've been walking (one step forward, one step back) for about 2-3 hours a day.
Interestingly enough, the main challenges haven't been physical, but mental. We only have the half-cubicle walls, so if I stand, everyone can see me. It's a weird sensation, but I eventually moved past it. Walking made that part even more challenging, but the results were worth it.
Walking also made concentrating on my work a bit of a challenge. I work customer service for a healthcare company, so juggling my calls with walking made things interesting. However, my performance is still high, and my handle times have actually gone down. I'm not sure why yet.
I'll be working from home pretty soon, and if I can save up enough scratch, I'll probably get a treadmill desk.
What I can say is that the 40 hours of standing and walking have had tremendous benefits compared to the "cost." It's time that I'm already spending at work anyway, so it doesn't intrude on my schedule or affect my spare time. Things that used to wear me out like going to theme parks or keeping up with a 6-year-old are much easier. I don't snore, I sleep better and I've lost weight.
The downside is that those old stretch marks look much worse on us guys than they do on women
Apparently we can't claim they're tiger stripes.
