Staying Healthy When My Job Involves Sitting at a Computer all Day. Part 1.

I spend hours on the computer every day. I suspect many of you do the same. It's a part of life for this generation. On average, I spend a minimum of eight hours in front of the screen each day. Another 3 hours are spend sitting while I commute. Close to eight hours are spent lying down. And the remaining 5 hours are a mixture of sitting down and standing up, but mostly sitting down.

I spend half my day sitting down. That translates to half my life sitting down.

Now I used to think that a few hours of running each week and some bodyweight exercises could help get me back into shape. While this is definitely possible, I have recently learned that even if I am in top shape, if I spend more than six hours at a stretch sitting down, I am more prone to heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes, and a shorter life. Not that I am in top shape.


Here are some links for more information on the risks of sitting at a stretch for too long.

Solutions?

Now the obvious solution is to stand up and move around some more. So I installed Workrave, a very nice little program that reminds me that I need to move once in a while. A few years ago it helped me get rid of a case of Very Stiff Knee. Recently, however, I have tended to forget that it is important to move around once in a while. I get lost in something I'm writing, and before I know it, three hours have gone by and I haven't moved a muscle (except for my fingers). As you can imagine, I ended up with another episode of Very Stiff Knee and also Very Sore Calves. I was sternly warned that I was taking my health for granted. So Workrave has become a serious part of my life again and I now take its break prompts seriously.

But at the end of the day, I've still spent half of it sitting down.

Enter the Standing Desk

Since the bulk of my time working is spent sitting down, a simple change that will greatly reduce the time I spend sitting down, is to work standing up. I didn't come up with this solution by myself, I read about it on Lifehacker. Now I know that standing for long periods of time also has its own set of problems, but I wanted the option. So I made myself a standing desk with the following:

1. A small table
2. My son's toy box
3. A flat board I had lying around
4. Two empty cans of oats
5. Two empty cans of infant formula
6. My self-made laptop stand

And voila! A standing desk. Being a freelancer does give me the freedom to do this :) I know it looks tall, but the keyboard is just the right height and I had to raise the laptop stand on the cans so I wasn't looking down at the screen at an awkward angle. Also excuse the grainy image, I do not have the luxury of time to properly edit the picture I took, or a tripod to use a lower ISO setting.

My Experience so Far

Well, so far equates to one day of standing. That day was yesterday. Today I am experiencing aches in my legs and lower back because standing forced me to stand straighter rather than slouching. But what about my experience when working standing?

For starters, I was able to focus better. Also, because I was standing, I found myself shuffling my feet, bending my knees, and kicking the air whenever my legs started feeling stiff. Overall it made me move a bit more. Now I may have overdone it yesterday because I spent the entire time I was at my computer standing (about six hours with tea breaks and lunch break). But overall, most of my aches are just my body getting used to the increased "activity" and some soreness I had in my upper back because of the way I tend to hunch over my laptop when sitting has decreased. 

So I'm hoping to keep a log of my experiences with my improvised standing desk here. I'll keep updating it as I learn (from experience or from elsewhere) how to make standing desks work for me. 

Maybe you can find them useful too. 

Other Useful Stuff

If you are like me -- out of shape and unfit -- then you might find these books useful. Please note that these are affiliate links and if you purchase these books I will receive a small percentage at no extra cost to you. 

1. The Beginning Runner's Handbook: The Proven 13-Week RunWalk Program: This is a great book for anyone who has been sedentary for years and wants to jog/run 10kms. The program takes 13 weeks and features run-walk segments that help you very slowly build your body's strength and endurance. I bought this book in 2012 and made it all the way to week 7 -- more than half way through -- before a severe asthma attack after exposure to insect repellent sidetracked me. My wife and I are planning to start the program together this coming week.
   
2. You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises: Though I have enjoyed working out at gyms (a long, long time ago) I do not have the luxury of time these days. A gym would need at least 2 hours of time for a 1 hour workout (commute, workout, shower, commute). As I searched for other ways to give me body something better to do I discovered bodyweight exercises. This book includes illustrated examples of over a hundred exercises. It also includes a few programs tailored for different fitness levels. So if you are very badly out of shape, there is a nice 10-week program for you. I haven't yet had the time to complete a program since I've bought this book, but I will post updates here once I am done.