My Biggest Enemy at Work – the chair

What’s my biggest enemy at work? My chair.

Okay that needs more explanation. What’s fighting my fitness and causing excess fat? My chair. What’s affecting my metabolism, slowing it down? My chair.

My work requires me to sit much of the day, every day. So this … is my enemy.

While I think Herman Miller has done a masterful job designing this chair, it still must be
fought. I’ve believed this for years and have tried to find reasons to escape it’s clutches. I’d take breaks. I’d skip an email, choosing instead to walk around and find someone in person. I’d … you get the idea.

Well my belief has been confirmed by some research published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine. I found a summary of the research and an article in The Independent. Here are a couple interesting quotes from the article:

Dr Ekblom-Bak[one of the researchers] said: “Everyone knows about the health benefits of regular exercise. But what we have not been alerted to before is that long periods sitting down carries an extra risk that cannot be dealt with by taking exercise. There are a growing number of studies that show this.”

If I understand him correctly, not only does sitting for long periods cause me to skip exercise, his research says it is actually working against me. No wonder so many people get up early, spin away on a treadmill every day, and not see the results they want. Sitting is winning the battle.

The authors say more studies are needed to confirm the ill effects of prolonged sitting and ways of combatting them. But on present evidence they conclude that “keep moving” should be added to the advice to “keep exercising.”

So get up!

We’re Cube Dwellers, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay in one spot for the entire day. Get up. Go meet a new employee, make them feel welcome. You’ll not only make their day, your winning the battle against your greatest enemy at work … the chair.

About Troy Pesola

Troy is the founder of Cube.Dweller.Fitness. He's an innovation catalyst in several areas of life including business, marketing, and process improvement. Outside of work he's actively involved in fitness, health, and living vibrantly in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.