Balanced Active Sitting: The Latest Office Wellness Trend

Innovative techniques to enhance mental clarity and physical health

According to the American Heart Association, prolonged periods of being sedentary are extremely harmful. And working in an office setting can actually wreak havoc on our bodies – research links sitting for long periods to obesity, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol levels, and musculoskeletal issues. The American Cancer Society notes that individuals who sit more than six hours a day increase their risk of death by 19 percent.

Part of the problem is that too much time spent sitting is merely a fact of our modern lives. Typically, the majority of adults spend at least half of their “awake” hours sedentary.

Just think about it: how much time do you spend each day in the sitting position? Don’t forget to include the time you spent commuting back and forth, the time spent at your desk, time spent sitting down for various meals, as well as any time spent watching TV or reading. Unfortunately, even if you carve out a small window of time to exercise, it’s not necessarily enough to offset all of those hours in the seated position.

So, how can you sit less? There are two answers, with the obvious one being to simply stand up. However, standing all day has its own set of challenges and is not always realistic for people with busy daily lives.

This brings us to the second solution: balanced active sitting. While old-school ergonomics aimed to brace the body into one ideal position, balanced active sitting supports the human body’s basic necessity for movement. It improves posture, activates your core while sitting, and improves circulation and energy so you can be more productive both at work (and life in general).
 
Balanced active sitting is changing the way workers feel at the office by focusing on the fact that our bodies are meant to move. I can speak to the power of balanced active sitting because I have first-hand experience with the negative health consequences of “sitting disease.” After working at a desk job for many years and experiencing a decline in my physical health as a result, I made it my mission to teach others in the corporate world how to combat "sitting disease."

According to recent research, active "balancing" is one way to improve your memory and cognition by requiring a complex synchronization of mental function and physical movement. One of the four main classifications of fitness – along with strength, endurance, and flexibility – people tend to overlook balance. But balance is also one of the most essential areas of fitness and lends itself to the average office setting. 
 
There are numerous technological advances and gadgets available to help combat the ill effects of sitting disease. Some specialty office chairs and other types of furniture, for instance, help stabilize your spine and strengthen your core by requiring you to balance on your center of gravity as you sit. With this approach, you not only improve your posture and burn calories, but you stay more alert and focused, resulting in an overall healthier lifestyle.   

I believe the key to balanced active sitting is to understand that it can be a significant change to what you may be used to until now. I suggest embracing the technique slowly. For example, try switching out your current office chair for an hour or two in the beginning. As your muscles grow stronger and your body adjusts to the improved change in posture, you will notice it becomes easier to practice balanced active sitting moving forward.

Trust me, after fully adopting this healthy approach to sitting, you will never “sit still” again.