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Is Your Desk Job Literally Killing You?

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woman with desk job

Sometimes going to work day after day can feel like a slow death march – especially if it’s a job you hate.

Even if you love what you do, when you’re sitting down at a desk every day, you could be doing some serious damage to your health.

Americans are getting fatter and fatter. That’s no secret. Obesity is an epidemic, and it leads to other health issues.

But even if you eat healthy food and exercise on a regular basis, workdays full of sitting still could be wiping out all of your extra effort. The situation may be worse than you think…

One of the biggest changes over the last 100, even just 50 years, is that more Americans have jobs in which we sit at a desk in front of a computer screen for hours on end. In fact, two-thirds of us use a computer at work every day.

If you’re not sitting at your desk, you’re probably sitting at a meeting. Then you go home, and you’re mentally exhausted. So you crash on the couch and watch television until you fall asleep. Don’t feel bad – most of us do it too.

But that’s no way to live life, because our bodies were not designed to be so sedentary.

Go back in time and you’ll find our ancestors out hunting for food, working in the fields and doing doing work that required physical activity. The only fat people you found were the rich and royalty. Now we’re all a bunch of chunky kings and queens.

Check out the infographic below illustrating how sitting has had negative effects on our lives. Then keeping reading to find out more…

How Can We Stop Sitting So Much?

Unless you decide to completely change your career, which is unlikely, you have to find other ways to get active, even if it means you stay at your desk.

Sometimes it’s the little things that can make all the difference…

For instance, you can burn up to 350 calories a day by tapping your toe at your desk.

Try standing up at your desk, or even convert it into a standing workstation. Hold stand-up meetings instead of sitting around a table. Walk or stand in your office while you talk on the phone.

Get up and take a stroll around the office every now and then. It’s not only good for reducing sitting time, it also helps clear your head. I’m lucky enough to work at a place with a huge manufacturing area and warehouse. Even though I work in the front office, I get up and do a lap or two a few times a day.

If you’re seriously stuck at your desk, you can do some exercises without leaving your workspace. Check out this article on 5 exercises you can do at your desk. It might be a little embarrassing at first, but just think of your health. Show the people who work near you the infographic above, and they’ll understand.

Who knows? Maybe they’ll even join in and you can start a cubicle aerobics class  (Okay that’s a little ridiculous, I know).

Why Should Small Business Owners Care?

Healthy employees are happier and more productive. According to an article in Population Health Management, a lack of proper exercise can increase the risk of low productivity by 50%.

Employees who are in good health also means lower health care costs. You may want to consider introducing a wellness program at your company.  A story in the Harvard Business Review points to the success of Johnson & Johnson. The company started a wellness program and estimated it saved $250 million over the course of 10 years.

You do want to be careful about forcing employees to do things that aren’t work-related. You don’t want backlash. You need to make a little bit of exercise during the work day attractive. Some businesses start daily walking groups. Others have a small gym in the workplace so people can exercise during breaks.

Most importantly, you need to let the people who work for you know that it is okay to get up and move around a little bit.

Your Turn!

How do you break up the day at your desk with a little light exercise? Leave us a comment and share your tips!

Check out the video below for even more exercises you can do despite being in a cubicle.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

+Kasey Steinbrinck is the lead blogger on personal finance and the economy for CheckAdvantage.  You’ll find more than 1600 designs including Sports Checks and much more! Get free shipping on personal checks today.


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