Is your chair killing you?

If you have a desk job or simply a love affair with your sofa, here’s a burning question – is your chair killing you?

Research has shown that a sedentary lifestyle puts you at serious risk of heart and lung problems, or type 2 diabetes. It’s estimated that standing for just two to three extra hours a day could burn a bonus 30,000 calories over the course of the year – good news for those wanting to shift the pounds.

Professor John Buckley from the University of Chester explains, ‘The simple act of standing for even as little as two hours per day can increase muscle activity to have a significant impact on health and wellbeing.’ The university is studying 900 people from a Virgin Media call centre who use stand-up desks for two to three hours a day for the next six months. Buckley will be monitoring the employees’ health and productivity benefits throughout their time standing, but we’re pretty sure the results will be very positive.

If you know you spend a lot of time on your backside when you should be on your feet, try these top tips for getting upright:

• Walk to work if it’s close enough, or encourage your kids to walk home with you instead of driving the school run
• Give up your seat on the bus or train and make use of the standing sections
• Spend coffee breaks at work walking round the office
• Make use of the local corner shop when you run out of milk, instead of driving to the supermarket
• Put your laptop on a higher shelf and have ‘stand-up office hours’
• Stay on your feet while waiting for your dinner to cook, and use the time to spring-clean instead of sitting down and watching TV
• Encourage your friends to stand up and dance on a night out, instead of heading to the usual comfy sofa for a gossip

For more info on the negative health impacts of sitting for too long, visit this article from the British Heart Foundation.