Active Sitting Challenge

Sitting is called the new smoking. Not all sitting is bad. In fact, sitting is a necessity in our life. The sitting that has negative consequences on our health is inactive prolonged sitting. One sitting activity in particular that has been found to be problematic is the excessive sitting while watching television. Many health problems have been associated with this type of sitting especially if you are watching 4 hours or more a day. This brings me to the purpose of this post which is to provide you a solution to excessive sitting while watching television. I want to be clear and say that my solution is not to avoid watching television. I like my fair share of watching television and for me to tell you to stop watching television would make me a hypocrite. Who likes a hypocrite? Not me. My solution is to challenge you to make your sitting in front of the television or computer screen activity based. To do this I offer you four exercises that can be done while sitting in your chair. The exercises are simple to do. The challenge will be to remember to do them every hour you are sitting to watch television for the next 30 days. I suggest putting a reminder on your phone. Get your family and friends to join in with you and make it a family activity. Remember to do the exercises every hour you are sitting watching television or on your computer. Each exercise will be done 10 times. There are several benefits of doing this challenge like improving flexibility, strength, burning more calories, and having fun. Prior to doing the exercise get up and walk for 3-5 minutes. This will help your spine decompress and it will warm the muscles before doing the exercises. You will also burn more calories. Think about this. If you watch television or sit at your computer for 4 hours doing this challenge will help you achieve 20-30 minutes of physical activity. So here are the exercises:

Important Disclaimer: if you have pin with any of these exercises please stop and consult your Doctor. Working through pain is not a solution but will only add to the problem. However, you still can do the walk.

Exercise 1: Seated Deadlift

Technique: Begin seated at the edge of a chair sitting tall (shoulders back and down). Walk your feet away from you (keep a slight bend in your knees), take your toes off the ground. Place your hands on the top of your thighs. Draw your belly button in to tighten your abdominal muscles.

Slide your hands down your thighs stopping when you round at your back or shoulders or you touch your toes.

Return to your start position by pressing the heels into the ground.

Keep the abdominals tight (belly button in) throughout this exercise.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f53ece_e04c7d2bdf404887873dfca8b948e800/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Exercise 2 Chair Sit to Stand

Technique: Sit on the edge of your chair. Place your feet underneath your knees so your knees are over your toes. Keep your feet symmetrical. Place your hands behind your head. Do not pull on the back of your head. Rise from the chair to a standing position (bring your nose over your toes and keep your heels on the ground). Slowly sit back in the chair by taking a bow. Keep your knees aligned with your toes and your stomach tight throughout the exercise.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f53ece_0782a42693e042fe8c5bfac287694e2d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Exercise 3: Prisoner Stretch

Technique: Sit on the edge of your chair. Place your hands behind your head. Do not pull on the back of your head. Slowly bring your elbows together while keeping the hands on the back of your head, then slowly bring the elbows back (squeeze your shoulder blades when pulling the elbows back). Keep your stomach muscles tight throughout the exercise.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f53ece_e6a440387f3045b68f2301cafa2a8f57/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Exercise 4: Seated Lunge

Technique: Sit on the side of your chair with one leg off the chair. make sure the chair is secure. Place the foot of the leg that is off the chair on a slider (I am using a furniture slider). Slowly slide your leg backwards bringing the knee towards the ground then slowly return to the start position. Perform on both sides.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f53ece_e307f814c6bc47d7b50ff2a954905b83/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Let me know how you like the challenge. Remember, doing something is better than doing nothing. My hope is doing this challenge will help you feel healthier and happier. Have fun! Message me at jeffmurphy@fitnessrestored.com if you have questions or you want to let me know how much benefit you are getting from this challenge. Knowing you are receiving benefit would make me very happy!