sitting is the new smoking - increased leg performance through the use of structured movement
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Sitting is the new smoking!
OR IS IT?
The problem could well be that rather than the sitting itself is of itself not the problem but it's the the fact that we sit too long in one position or just sit for long periods at a computer to earn living!
The world is changing and we have to change with it, and it turns out the computer is king of the workplace and we all sit too long working at the computer.
To keep up with or get in front of things we have to sit for longer and longer in front of that keyboard, for whole shifts on a consistent basis wthout moving the legs.
The reality is that because of heavy workloads very few employers are actually putting in place practices that allow the employee to get up and walk around on a frequent basis as often as they should and if they have very few employees take advantage of that because they just have to get the work done and out of the way in a certain time.
It is strange that the only people who will take advantage of that are the smokers who race off for smoke as often as they can ruining their health in a different way.
In the long term sitting can cause health problems with neck, shoulder, lower back, upper leg, lower legs and everything else as well in much the same way people who have to stand and walk all day on consecutive days of their working week.
In our case we are setting ourselves up for something called Deep Vein Thrombosis. This is a very dangerous problem to develop, it is a blood clotting issue in the lower legs where the circulation has been compromised in the veins. The blood clots can break away and lodge in the lungs, the brain or the heart.
It is usually thought of as being associated with long distance flights, and always happens to other people but I recently discovered that a young distant relative of mine died aged 16 so if you don't keep that circulation going it could happen to you too.
Osmosis [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Osmosis [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Using available room to best advantage to keep the legs working can prevent the circulation becoming static with the blood pooling and setting the conditions for clots to develop. It can be as simple as getting up and walking or doing something that is easy to do while remaining seated
Many people who spend their day sitting down at the computer would be familiar with swollen ankles
Spend too long sitting and the circulation stops working and the muscles fatigue because there is no oxygen being carried to the muscle tissues
Prevention of fatigue relies on a system called the calf muscle pump to take used blood and fluid from the lower legs against gravity back to the body so it can be recycled as fresh blood.
To make it work the calf muscles have to be working at squeezing and relaxing the veins, these have one way valves in them to stop the used blood going back down the legs.
If they are not working used blood sits in the lower legs and fluid in the blood leaves through the vessel walls and because it isn't being pumped away fast enough it fills the tissue spaces and you have swollen ankles.
it is this that it is most recommended to do to let the used blood and fluid drain back to the body but this takes an indeterminate time at the end of the day
It would be much quicker to use Wholistic Manual Muscle Relaxation/structured movement to get the calf muscle pump working again
Good Circulation the calf muscle pump is working Poor circulation the calf muscle pump is static
Free up the legs using the hands and structured movement
When you are sitting and can't get away fom your desk you just need a strap!
The walk you are having when you are not having a walk!
Do the course or just the manual on structured movement for the legs!