Thread by @Telegraph

🪑 Why sitting down can kill you.

Sitting has been dubbed “the new smoking” as a sedentary lifestyle can come with a host of health risks.

Thread 🧵
telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…

❌ Adults of working age in the UK spend around nine and a half hours a day sitting down.

During the pandemic, our sedentary behaviour has been encouraged further by stay-at-home guidance

🧬 “The poor health effects from too much sitting are separate from whether you are physically active or not,” explains Stuart Biddle, professor of physical activity and health at the University of Southern Queensland

Prolonged sitting has been linked to:
◾️ Back pain
◾️ Diabetes
◾️ Cardiovascular disease
◾️ Depression and anxiety

Even the physically active are not immune to the so-called “posture pandemic” - Back pain afflicts 2.5 million people in the UK every day.

How can we avoid it? ⬇️

“Posture is affected by mood, and vice versa," says physiotherapist and Pilates teacher Helen O’Leary.

“Movement and exercise, getting outside and socialising with others helps to reduce pain”

❓ What about desk workers?

“Good posture isn’t about straightening up and rolling your shoulders back once. It’s about training yourself to move better naturally and consistently,” according to sports scientist Professor Greg Whyte OBE

👣 "The accumulation of lots of little changes will make an overall dramatic change which you can sustain long-term".

“Think of movements as 'snacks' – 30 minutes of movement can be broken down into five-minute portions"

“You might not want to be the only person in an open plan office doing a seated chair lunge”...

But Kerrie-Anne Bradley, the founder of Pilates At Your Desk, wants having a wiggle and a stretch to be culturally acceptable in the workplace

Find 10 desk-friendly moves for improved posture here 👇
telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…