Many of us spend most of our day sitting down. Here are a few ideas to sit less and move more – courtesy of SA Health http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au

Are you a sitting duck?

Sitting down for long periods of time is bad for our health. After all, our bodies are designed to move and be active.

Unfortunately, many of us sit for hours a day at work, at home and travelling. We really need to get moving.

Sitting down for too long can lead to pretty serious problems such as:

• weight gain
• poor muscle tone and posture
• increased risk of developing disease and dying earlier.

Even if we are physically active for at least 30 minutes every day, it’s still important to avoid sitting for too long throughout the rest of the day.

Sit less, stand up and move more throughout the day

It may not sound like much, but breaking up sitting time makes a big difference.

Try adding these simple activities to your day:

• stand up at least every 30 minutes when ever you can
• regularly change posture
• move your arms and legs
• stretch
• walk around.

At work

• take short regular breaks from sitting
• stand up to use the phone
• think about using your feet first and walk to see colleagues instead of emailing
• stand up at meetings
• have walking meetings
• if you have to sit down for long period change posture often and move and stretch muscles
• alternate sitting and standing to avoid sitting or standing up all the time.

Even standing up for as little as a minute may help lower the health risks.

At home

• change posture often if you are using a computer or watching TV
• stand up every 30 minutes or so
• stand up and move during the ad breaks.