Quit the Sit: Get off your seat and on your feet

1. October’s Goal QUIT THE SIT Get off your seat and on your feet

2. Sitting is the New Smoking Compared to our ancestors from thousands of years ago, there are significant differences in the way we live our lives. The rise of technology has impacted our well-being for better and for worse. Devices have helped make our daily tasks faster and easier and applications allow us to update a spreadsheet, catch up with a co-worker and check the weather without getting up from our seat. to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute in Ottawa, Canadian adults are spending three quarters of their waking hours in a seated or reclined position and children are spending two thirds of their day being inactive. We are spending more time sitting than sleeping. We have become so sedentary that a new threat to our lives has evolved: The Sitting Disease. Con-SIT-er your risks. Use this Sitting-Time Calculator to see how many hours you actually spend sitting and your estimated risk for Sitting Disease. http://www.juststand.org/Tools/SittingCalculator/tabid/866/language/en-US/Default.aspx Small efforts can make a significant difference. Use this Calorie-Burn Calculator to see how many calories you would burn if you stood while working.http://www.juststand.org/tabid/637/language/en-US/default.aspx This month we challenge you to add more movement to your day. Stop sitting and start moving! Source: http://www.canadianliving.com/health/fitness/photo_gallery__4_exercises_you_can_do_at_work-1.php#top_nav_slide

3. The Sitting Disease is Real While regular exercise and healthy eating habits are crucial for good health, an often overlooked habit is sitting when we should be moving. With an emerging field of inactivity studies, researchers are better able to identify why some people gain more weight than others while consuming and exerting the same amount of energy. It all comes down to who moves more throughout the day. What actually happens in the body when we sit for long periods of time? • Electrical activity in the muscles drop • Calorie-burning rate plummets to one per minute • After one hour, fat-burning enzymes drop by 90% • After 24 hours, insulin's ability to uptake glucose reduces by almost 40% causing cholesterol levels to rise These metabolic changes can lead to conditions like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Essentially, the longer you sit the less efficient your body systems become. Unfortunately, regular gym workouts are not enough to mitigate these risks. It all comes down to reducing the number of hours we spend sitting. When weighing the options of getting up to talk to someone or calling them on the phone, remember that the former can add years to your life. Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nilofer-merchant/sitting-is-the-smoking-of-our-generation_b_2506748.html http://www.canadianliving.com/health/fitness/photo_gallery__4_exercises_you_can_do_at_work-1.php#top_nav_slide http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.html?_r=0

4. Get Up, Stand Up Our modern workplace culture has built up barriers to movement. Sitting habits have been ingrained in our office routines and while there have been significant improvements to the quality of chairs, we still need to sit less and move more. So, gather your co-workers and join the wellness uprising with these simple strategies to stand more: • Park at the far end of the parking lot • Drink more water so that you stay hydrated and need to get up more to use the restroom • Take the long route to the restroom, meeting room or cafeteria • Organize a walking meeting • Set a timer to go off once an hour; stand and stretch • Stand up while talking on the phone • Walk to a co-worker's desk instead of calling/emailing them • Stand up while your computer screen loads Apply the same efforts in your personal life and get your family moving: • Lose the remote control; get up to change the TV channel • Purchase standing-room tickets for concerts • Hand-wash dishes instead of using the dishwasher • Walk your kids to and from school • Make your bed every day • Perform small bouts of housework each day • Get outside and tend to your yard or garden Sources: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/would-you-do-this-at-work/article17945720/ http://www.juststand.org/

5. Don't Just Rise, Deskercise! Sneak more movement into your day with the Top 10 "deskercises". Move as if your life depended on it…and it does! • Twinkle Toes - Tap your toes quickly on the floor under your desk • Stair Master - Opt for the stairs over the elevator and take them two-at-a-time for an added challenge • Silent Seat Squeeze - While sitting, secretly squeeze your gluts and hold for 5-10 seconds then release • Lunch Break Hammy - Stand behind your chair, holding on to the back for support, curl your heel to your bum for 10 reps each side • Cubicle Dip - Use a sturdy desk or non-rolling chair and place hands on the edge with fingers pointing down. Bend at the elbow to 90 degrees and extend back to your starting position for 8-10 repetitions • Namaste - Place your palms together in front of your chest and squeeze together, holding for 20 seconds, release and repeat • Pencil Pinch - Imagine holding a pencil between your shoulder blades, squeeze them together and hold for 5-10 seconds, repeat 8-10 times • Shoulder Shrugs - Lift your shoulders up to your ears and depress downwards, repeat for 15 reps • Desk Chair Wheel - Sitting in a chair with wheels, grasp edge of desk and lift both feet off the floor, alternate pushing and pulling your chair in and away from the desk • FabAb Squeeze - Take a deep breath and tighten abdominal muscles into spine, hold for 5-10 seconds, release and repeat 10 times Source: http://greatist.com/fitness/deskercise-33-ways-exercise-work