If you want to be healthy, don't sit too long.

DO N'T FORGET TO STRETCH

For nearly two decades, Shaun Francis, CEO of Medcan (a leading healthcare company in Canada), has worked with many doctors and scientists to research ways to help people live long and healthy lives.

Exercises right at your desk

In his book Eat Well, Exercise Enough, Think Smart, Shaun Francis said: "The conventional wisdom has long been that sitting a lot is okay as long as we are physically active." However, in the late 2010s, new scientific findings contradicted this.

Professor Tim Church (Louisiana State University, USA) and his colleagues have been following for 13 years and discovered a bad relationship between long sitting time and longevity. Subsequent studies also confirmed that sitting too much can lead to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and increase the risk of cancer.

To cope with that, many people and even businesses have spent a lot of money to buy multi-function office chairs in the hope of minimizing the harmful effects of sitting too much. However, Dr. Andrew Miners, Director of Sports Medicine at Medcan, discovered: "People who already have neck and lower back pain after sitting in these expensive multi-function chairs for a while still continue to have pain because they sit too long."

Therefore, scientists have suggested interrupting long sitting times with a few minutes of on-the-spot stretching at your work station.

For example, to self-treat neck and nape pain, you can do the following movements: 1/ Stand up straight; 2/ Place your right hand behind your head and place it on your left ear, pull your head toward your right shoulder and hold for about 10 seconds; 3/ Switch sides and repeat the same several times.

To relieve neck and back pain, you should twist and stretch your spine with the following movements: 1/ Sit close to the edge of the chair, turn your head and body to the left; 2/ Place your left hand on the back of the chair, your right hand on your left thigh and tighten your abdominal muscles; 3/ Hold the position for about 5-7 breaths, then switch sides and do the same.

If working conditions allow, every 20 minutes of sitting, you should get out of your chair to stretch and walk around to help blood circulate better.

V MOVE RIGHT AT THE CHAIR

Sitting properly at work

Especially for office workers, sitting for too long causes the joints to be less active, leading to poor blood circulation, easily causing osteoporosis, fat accumulation in the abdomen, varicose veins, etc., you can perform the following movements:

Deep breathing: Inhale deeply, expanding your belly to take in more oxygen, then exhale through your mouth to push carbon dioxide out of your body.

Look far away and blink: You should practice looking far away or blinking often to maintain eye moisture, avoiding dry and tired eyes.

The monitor should be about 50 cm from your torso, slightly lower than eye level; the keyboard should be 10-15 cm from the edge of the table to provide support for your wrists and hands. Your elbows should be bent at about 90 degrees.

To have a healthier body, people need to spend time regularly exercising outside of work and study. The simplest and most inexpensive way is walking. Walking is also an effective exercise method for people with cardiovascular disease, helping blood circulation better.

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