Many of us are all too familiar with long hours at a desk. We are also too familiar with the aches, pains, and stiffness a desk job can bring to our back, legs, neck, etc. Even if you don’t have a desk job or sit in an office chair for hours a day, an article from Popular Science states that, “…the average adult spends 55 percent of his or her day doing something sedentary.” That means, if you live to be 75, you will have spent, 41.25 years being sedentary. That’s an awful long time to be sitting.
The majority of people who have to sit for long periods of time are those with desk jobs. When you work at a desk job, even if it’s at home, you most likely are using some sort of chair such as an office chair, which is the most popular choice. Pamela Kenney from LinkedIn warns people that, “Just as you wouldn’t skimp on your living room sofa or mattress (you wouldn’t, would you?!) you shouldn’t skimp on your office furniture.” Why, you ask? Your office furniture plays an important role in your health. This might sound outrageous, but studies show that sitting for long periods of time is just as bad, if not worse, than smoking based on how it lowers life expectancy.
Popular Science, poured over many studies to find that lowering the amount of time you sit in a day to only three hours, significantly decreased severe health risks. The list of issues from prolonged sitting included, chronic disease, kidney disease, obesity, metabolic syndromes, poor mental health, and more. The list is truly daunting. Studies presented by Popular Science showed that getting at least five hours of exercise in per week helped to decrease health risk by a large percentage. However, overall, it didn’t negate the “death trap” of sitting for too long because other factors are included.
Some of us don’t have any control over how long we have to sit, especially if we’re not self-employed and able to say, “I’m taking a break to stretch my legs.” However, we do have control over the chair that we sit in. The type of chair we use, alone, could be enough to save us from many of the issues listed above. On top of making sure we are getting enough exercise outside of work, choosing the right office chair can make a world of difference to our long-term health. If you sit at a desk during the day, choosing an ergonomically correct chair is the best way to alleviate issues such as the previously mentioned ones as well as things such as stiffness in the joints, pinched nerves, etc. The extra money for the right chair is worth your health and overall, your life.
For more information please contact us or visit us at our site HERE!
Sources: Popular Science, LinkedIn