Take a regular ‘butt break’ for better health

It is only relatively recently that we have begun to appreciate just what a postural and metabolic disaster it is when we spend too long sitting. From a postural perspective we set ourselves up for muscle imbalances; some muscles become tight and others become weak because they are not ‘pulling their weight’ in maintaining good posture.

We tend to develop a chin that ‘pokes’ especially when spending time in front of a computer screen and straining forward to read it or in concentration. On the metabolic side, research supports that staying sedentary and not moving from sitting to standing every 20 minutes or so increases the risk of becoming insulin insensitive which carries an unwanted increase in the chances of developing diabetes.

Sitting also affects biomarkers for inflammation and fat storage – neither situations being conducive to good health. The takeaway from this is pretty obvious. Get up and move! Take regular drink breaks (especially water) which necessitate you getting up and moving.

Set some kind of alarm or know that you need to take a butt break on the half hour for example.