Please take a seat... or better don't

With the majority of us working in desk-bound jobs, and many of us still working from home, finding ways to keep physically active seems ever impossible. So how can we keep active in our very busy, yet very sedentary modern lives?

We live in a highly urbanised society1, where most of us sit in front of a screen for hours on end to make a living. And although technology seems to have simplified the ways we deal with information and communications, the boom of digital social interactions means that we also spend most of our leisure time static, looking at a screen.

The recent pandemic and months of lockdown brought many changes to our usual habits, the most prominent, remote working become the new normal with some companies even shutting offices permanently post pandemic.2 Not going to the office brought a lot of freedom to employees, yet it also meant that, without the daily commute, most of us probably don't walk 10'000 steps in a week, forget a day.

Our modern, digitally run, comfortable lives are giving us a false sense of wellbeing, but our physical health will pay the price. According to the official statistics, around 1 in 3 (34%) of men and 1 in 2 (42%) of women are not active enough for good health. Furthermore, our population is around 20% less active than in the 1960s. If current trends continue, it will be 35% less active by 2030. Physical inactivity is associated with 1 in 6 deaths in the UK and is estimated to cost the UK £7.4 billion annually (including £0.9 billion to the NHS alone).3

So we know that we must be physically active to maintain good health and prevent chronic disease... but with most of us working 40 hours, desk-bound, office jobs, in addition to our busy, socially active 'digital' lives, how can we incorporate physical activity to our daily routines?

For those of us who are still brave enough to face the 'sardine in a tin' tube commute to work, the idea of going to the gym, after a long day at the office, can fill us with dread. And for those of us that work from home, changing from our comfy 'home-chic' attires to a pair of leggings seems like an insurmountable task. No wonder the majority of health clubs and gyms lose 50% of their new members within the first few months... So let's not kid ourselves, the majority of us will not be able to sustain a real commitment to the gym.

Home exercising saw a great increase during the pandemic (Joe Wicks becoming a household item during the months of lockdown), and we all - or at least many of us - very happily incorporated regular exercise to our daily lives during this time, some of us for the first time. According to the Office of National Statistics, exercise levels were highest during lockdown in spring 2020.4 However, the motivation to continue exercising on our own at home seemed to have completely disappeared the day the restrictions were lifted, with the attendance to online classes dropping drastically (even if many of us continued working from home).5

Needless is to say that the end of the lockdown period had a very positive effect in the population. Many of us embraced more outdoor exercise and activities once the restrictions were lifted, some of us for the first time. Once we were allowed to go out, outdoor exercise saw a rise and people’s interest in nature surged. According to a People and Nature Survey by Natural England, 46% of people responding said they were spending more time outside as an immediate result of having been in lockdown than they had done prior to the pandemic.6 However, as time passed, we seemed to have forgotten many of the lessons learnt, as a study from Sport England shows, the number of adults who are physically active, are still down compared to pre-pandemic levels, with 600k (1.9%) fewer active adults and 1.3m (2.6%) more inactive adults.7

So if joining the gym is not for us, we have long stopped watching Joe, and we no longer commute to work, the question remains unanswered, how can we remain active daily? Remaining physically active does not necessarily imply exercising. We can easily incorporate physically activity to our daily routines by simply keeping - physically - busy and ditching the comfort of our chais (literally and metaphorically). In other words, get up, and get moving.

If you work from home, ensure you leave the house every day for a brisk walk for at least 20 minutes (a mile or more). Do not remain seated for longer than 30 minutes, take a 5 minutes break to stand up, move your legs (hips, knees and ankles), your spine (neck, mid and lower back), and your shoulders, you can find an example of movements here. If you are in a meeting, turn your mic and camera off for a few minutes and and move while you watch and listen. If you must remain seated, perform some movements to mobilise your joint while on your chair every half hour or so, here are some examples. Keep generally active, do some gardening, keep on top of your house chores, walk the dog - you got during lockdown - at least three times daily (not just to the nearest tree and back, for at least 1o minutes at a time), go to the shops rather than buying online, and so forth. And ensure you stretch your major muscle groups daily, preferably throughout the day, or at least once a day, for a few minutes (think of holding stretches for 10 to 30 seconds, and stretch your back - including neck, chest, glutes - your hips, and thighs. Here are some examples of stretches you can perform standing, seated or lying down.

If you still commute to work, you have the advantage of already fulfilling the need to leave the house daily. However, ensure you also walk for at least 20 minutes everyday. If you drive to work, think of parking your car further away from home or your office so you can easily add some steps to your daily routine. If you commute on public transport, think walking to the following stop or alighting before your stop so you can add some walking to your day. While in the office, if possible, also perform some joint mobility exercises every half hour (whether seated or standing), think of visiting colleagues in person rather than calling or messaging them, take stairs instead of lifts or escalators, and never - again - have your lunch on your desk. Ensure you go out, breathe some fresh air, walk about a bit and if possible, enjoy your lunch on an open space such a park. This would not only help you keep active, but it'll also have a major positive impact on your wellbeing. Also , ensure you stretch your major muscle groups daily, if not possible at the office, at least at home, once a day, in the evening, to aid release any muscle tension accumulated throughout the day, and help to relax.

We don't have to be athletes or gym bunnies to keep physically active and healthy.. We don't even need to like sports or exercise regularly. We simply need to keep physically busy; incorporating more functional physical activity to our daily lives, walking, moving, and stretching more every day. So next time someone offers you to sit... think it twice!