While most of us know the dangers of smoking cigarettes, there are plenty of worse habits relating to your health. But sitting down??? I recently went to a seminar for work in which a 20 year study was conducted in Australia. Everyday that one person sits for 11 hours, each hour thereafter shortens your life by 22 minutes, while smoking a cigarette shortens your life by an average of 11 minutes.

Are we really sitting 11 hours a day?

We get up to go to work and we are sitting in a car, at times in traffic. We arrive at work and we go to sit at our desk...tick tock. A couple hours later its time for lunch, so we sit down to eat....tick tock. We go back for the rest of the afternoon to sit at our desk, and then we get back into our car and sit for the drive home....tick, tick, tick. Now we are home, exhausted from the day, and what do we tell ourselves? "I gotta sit down, I'm exhausted." Tick, Tick Tick! Dinner time! Uh-Oh. Time to watch tv!

As you can see, the amount of time we find ourselves sitting can easily turn into 11 + hours a day.

The Beverly Hills Chairs Prevention:

1) Within every 40 minutes, stand up for 8 minutes at work and make sure you are not standing still, feel free to sway or move from side to side.

2) When showing up to work, take the stairs, not the elevator. If your floor is too high up, stop at a couple floors below and take the stairs. If your floor is too low, go higher and at least go down a couple flights of stairs.

3) Try to add a short walk after lunch. It has been proven that taking a 20 minute walk after a high calorie meal decreases your chances of stroke and a heart attack by 60% and can add 3 years onto your life. Taking a 60 minute walk is actually less helpful to your body after a meal than a 20 minute walk.

4) The optimal sit/stand routine. Sit for 20 minutes, stand for 8 minutes, move around for 8 minutes. Repeat throughout the day. You will have more energy, feel better, and studies have shown it makes you a more productive worker.

For more ergonomic tips and tricks, check out www.beverlyhillschairs.com.

(424) CHAIR-80