How does exercise help us?
There is an old saying that blood pressure is a silent killer. Is no exercise also a silent killer? The World Health Organisation highlights that physical inactivity is the fourth biggest risk factor to adulthood death.
The latest research shows when it comes to heart disease, a sedentary life is as huge risk factor as much as smoking and obesity. In fact, inactivity in terms of disease risk, is more dangerous than being overweight.
If you spend long periods of time sitting, this is particularly bad news, as it increases your risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer. Unfortunately research suggest that even healthy weight individuals who are physical inactive are at risk. When we are inactive a natural fat burning process becomes dormant, leading to the build up of internal fat increasing the risk of developing heart disease.
Is it to late to start exercise?
Ideally it is best to exercise through ought our life time. Having said this its never too late to start exercise, research suggests that we benefit from exercise at any age.
Regular physical physical exercise, can help prevent and manage over 20 chronic medical conditions. These include coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, mental health problems and musculoskeletal conditions.
The good news is that we can fight against the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle with just 60-75 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a day. This could be brisk walking of a dog to some moderately physical gardening.
Our Osteopathy and physiotherapy team have put together some downloadable resources.
It is easy to understand why we may choose not to exercise or to get out of an exercise routine with family and work commitments being constantly juggles. The last thing we want to do when we are tired is to exercise.
But the bottom line is if we do not exercise our health is at risk, we can become mentally fatigue and become less productive at work.
And you would be surprised at the number of opportunities there are in a working day, to increase your activity levels. This doesn’t have to mean running or cycling to work, although that’s great if you can, but you can in fact accumulate activity that is beneficial to health, in lots of different ways during the day.
Which is why our osteopathy and physiotherapy team have put together a collection of resources to help you achieve this.
At the following link you can download leaflets, exercise handouts and infographics on the following topics.
- 17 Ways to Be More Active at Work
- Thinking on your Feet – Why it Pays to Be Physically Active at Work Client Newsletter
- Stretching Exercises for the Workplace
- Strengthening Exercises for the Workplace
- Why Posture Matters
- Optimal Desk Posture Infographic
- Carpal Tunnel Infographic
- Preventing and Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Carpal Tunnel Rehabilitation Exercise Sheet
Click here to download the resources
Our osteopathy and physiotherapy team we can help with a wide range of issues caused by long periods of sitting at a desk, including back and neck pains, tingling in your hands, carpal tunnel syndrome, even regular headaches experienced at work. Please get in touch if you need advice and we hope you find these resources useful.