Hi friends,

More and more people are working desk jobs and spend a lot of time sitting behind a computer. But how is this impacting their health?

First off, I don’t think that sitting is the new smoking but staying in the same position for prolonged periods can be detrimental to your health.

I see all sorts of gadgets that try to offset the effects of sitting—standing desks, walking pads, and straps that help maintain good posture while sitting.

Sitting is not inherently bad, and there are ways that you can set yourself up for success if you do have to work on a computer for most of your working hours.

One, use a lumbar roll or a rolled-up towel to place in the small of your back. This helps to maintain the proper curvatures in your spine and promotes upright posture even as the day goes on.

Next, aim to get up from your desk every 30-45 minutes. Because prolonged postures negatively impact your body, you should try to change positions frequently (i.e. standing to sitting, or sitting to standing).

A stand-up desk can be a great solution and antidote to staying in one position for too long. There are a handful of affordable electric stand-up desks now that seamlessly transition from standing to sitting. I use this one, but any desk that allows you to change desk heights is sufficient.

Finally, maintaining a “good” posture all day long is nearly impossible. Instead, aim to keep your spine relatively upright most of the time and catch yourself when you’re looking like a floppy shrimp. If you naturally have a sunken chest and rounded shoulders, I recommend you work on strengthening your upper back muscles and stretching your chest instead of spending money on a posture corrector.

Sitting isn’t as bad as it is often portrayed. Just try to get up and change positions periodically throughout the day to minimize the risk of injury from prolonged postures.

Until next week,

Kevin