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Last time I was discussing the signs of living a sedentary lifestyle. Today I am going to share with you 8 simple tips to overcome sedentary behavior while working since 9 to 5 office workers and freelancers are at risk of experiencing the side effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

First of all, at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week is highly recommended in order to overcome the hazardous effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

However there are 8 simple strategies that you could follow at your workplace!

1.Get off the bus one stop ahead

If you use public transportation try to get off the bus one stop ahead and you could end up walking the 150 minutes per week with this strategy which is the threshold for an active lifestyle.

2.Park further away with your car

The situation is similar to tip no. 1 if you park a bit further away with your car.

If you allow an extra 10 minutes walking back and forth that could be 50 minutes per week which is a significant amount of time spent on physical activity.

3.Take the stairs instead of the elevator

If there is an elevator there are usually stairs as well 🙂

And if you want to make sure you are eliminating the chances for being sedentary then you should use the stairs instead of the elevator.

5 minutes of 2-MET movements

Studies revealed that low-intensity (2 MET) movement interruptions for 5 minutes every hour could enhance your physical health and decrease the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (1.)

Let’s see what could be these little interruptions

4.Walk to your colleagues when you need to talk to them

In a workplace, we need to communicate and we often choose the convenient solution which is calling or emailing our colleagues. But if you were gonna choose walking over phoning or emailing that could definitely help you ticking the ‘5 minutes of 2-MET movements’ box.

5.Walk to the lunch space

Office canteens could be a couple of hundreds feet away from your chair which gives you the opportunity to walk up to 10 minutes back and forth.

6.Stand up when you take phone calls

You might make several calls per day. If you multiply this handful amount with standing up and walking a bit while talking that could also lead you to success in tackling the hazards of a sedentary lifestyle.

7.Go to the restroom on a different level

You might use the restroom every hour, so walking to a restroom on a different level could be your obvious go to when it comes to spending 5 minutes on a 2-MET movement.

8.Walk to distant trash or printers 

You might use printers every day or only use trash once or twice a day, but if you walk a distance before using them you will do a lot for your physical health.

So these are my best tips on how to overcome sedentary behavior at the workplace. These tips won’t cost you anything, however, the benefits are huge.

Stay active and healthy,

Eszter

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