Healthier You
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ADVERTORIAL<br />
SITTING IS NOT THE NEW SMOKING.<br />
BUT WE SHOULD STILL DO LESS OF IT.<br />
The most over-used dramatization currently used in workplace<br />
wellness is “sitting is the new smoking”. I disagree. I am sitting<br />
right now to write this article and I hardly believe it is having<br />
the harmful affects that smoking a cigarette would have on<br />
my body. I do not require sitting-cessation therapy. Sitting is<br />
necessary. We just need to do less of it.<br />
Have you ever summed up all of your hours of sitting and<br />
laying down in the day (24 hours)? Does the time spent in<br />
inactivity outweigh your physical activity? Large volumes of<br />
physical inactivity in the day may put you at risk for a chronic<br />
disease. In 2013 The University of Texas School of Pubic Health<br />
recorded the training time and inactivity time for 218 distance<br />
runners (marathon and half marathon distance). The median<br />
training time was 6.5 hours/week. Median total sitting time was<br />
8 – 10.75 hours per day. This study suggests that recreational<br />
distance runners can be highly sedentary and highly active at<br />
the same time! Just because you go to the gym, go running or<br />
walk daily, you are not safe from the risks of excessive sitting.<br />
Movement is medicine. A medication that we should take<br />
as often as possible. There are many reasons that we may sit for<br />
extended periods. To change the sitting situation sometimes<br />
takes creativity. For example, if you work a job that requires you<br />
to sit day in and day out all day without the opportunity for<br />
breaks, you may not be able to request walk breaks from your<br />
employer but you may however be able to slightly modify your<br />
workstation to allow you to sit and stand in rapid succession<br />
(also known as a squat) you can do this movement at intervals<br />
throughout the day to break up the time spent sitting. Research<br />
has shown us that movement at work can result in increased<br />
productivity and job satisfaction and decreased absenteeism<br />
due to the health improvements movement can have on the<br />
body.<br />
As is always the case, speak to your Physician or Nurse<br />
Practitioner if you are not currently active and will be increasing<br />
your physical activity dramatically.<br />
Sitting is a necessary part of living. We need to sit for at least<br />
a small amount of time every day. We do not and have not<br />
ever needed smoking. Therefore, sitting is not now nor has it<br />
ever been smoking. Movement is however medicine. Take your<br />
medicine and ENJOY!<br />
Jennifer Edgecombe<br />
Exercise Specialist Coordinator with the City of Kamloops, Parks and Recreation<br />
BSc. HK, American College of Sports Medicine Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist<br />
jedgecombe@kamloops.ca<br />
250.828.3742<br />
SENSATIONAL<br />
SURVIVORS<br />
250-828-3742<br />
Mission<br />
A goal-oriented exercise program dedicated to working with<br />
women in all stages of cancer to improve physical<br />
strength, rehabilitation and support.<br />
By Physician/Nurse Practitioner Referral Referral<br />
forms at www.keeponmoving.ca/physicians<br />
or call 250-828-3742
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