Exercise in the office for better health

Improved seating dynamics, holding meetings and other exercise tips for the office

02/02/2015

Sitting as a health risk? When working in the office, at school, at home in front of the computer, in the evening in front of the TV or driving a car - a lot of their everyday lives spend many Germans sitting down, which can have critical consequences for the health. Numerous studies have shown that long sitting times are associated with health risks such as diseases of the cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal disorders.

Seating eight or more hours a day increases the risk of various diseases, according to the News Agency „dpa“ citing the German Society for Occupational Medicine and Environmental Medicine (DGAUM). However, this value is quickly reached in many office workers, which is why it is here to ensure balance, explained the DGAUM expert Michael Nasterlack compared to „dpa“. Under no circumstances should employees remain in a sitting position for too long, Nasterlack continues. Here everyone can do something for themselves to prevent possible health risks.

Get up regularly
The German Society for Occupational Medicine and Environmental Medicine recommends some simple measures to bring some exercise into the office routine and to avoid damage to health due to long periods of sitting. At least once per hour, employees should get up and move. Here, for example, it helps to set up the printer in the office so that the employees have to get up to pick up printed sheets. Furthermore, it is good for the back to get up while talking on the phone. Also, meetings could be held at appropriate bar tables or desks instead of at conference tables.

Dynamic sitting and stretching exercises
According to the experts, another important point is the seat dynamics. Here, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Baua) recommends, for example, that the working person pans back and forth with the pelvis or shifts the weight from one buttock to the other, reports the „dpa“. In addition, regular stretching exercises are appropriate every second hour. Stretching is intended to prevent discomfort of the musculoskeletal system caused by monotonous work movements or incorrect postures. For example, the TÜV Rheinland advice to make the spine long and to stretch the neck every now and then. Anyone who has difficulty implementing the exercise can imagine balancing a crown on their head, according to the announcement of the „dpa“.

Standing desks and height-adjustable desks
Last but not least, furniture in the office plays a decisive role in the daily movement. Here are special furniture such as a height-adjustable desk or a high desk well suited to the employees more often to get up, reports the „dpa“. However, employees are usually not entitled to the purchase of these special furniture by employers, according to DGAUM expert Nasterlack „dpa“. The situation is different for people with physical disabilities such as a stiff hip, which require such special furniture. In addition, workers would be entitled to the replacement of ergonomically obviously unsuitable furniture. This is given, for example, if the daily several hours of work on the computer on an unpadded wooden chair must be done.

Sitting makes you sick
The German health insurance (DKV) has in their current report „How healthy is Germany??“ In 2015, the risks of long sitting times pointed. For example, permanent residency, in addition to general physical inactivity, is now recognized as an independent risk factor for health. Today, Germans spend an average of seven and a half hours per day, and the group of young adults even nine hours, the DKV reports. „ We have become a people of sitting down“, Clemens Muth, CEO of DKV, continues. The permanent sitting has it „far-reaching consequences for the fat and blood sugar metabolism and makes people sick.“ (Fp)