Society has progressed to the point where the average person doesn’t have to toil in the fields or sweat in a factory for 12 hours a day. But, our office working culture brings with it a new set of problems and challenges, the biggest of which is actually being bothered to get up out of your chair.
Here at Airospring, we’re in the business of healthy living - our pressure relief cushions are designed to make sitting down more healthy and comfortable. We think our range should be part of a more active and healthy life, so here are some tips for healthy office working that you can feel bad about not following.
Take the stairs
Seriously, if you’re not on the ground floor, this is such an easy way to add a bit of cardio to your day. Even if you are on the ground floor, you can take a detour. Your colleagues might not believe your excuse of forgetting where you work every single day, but you’ll be laughing when the lift is out of order and they’re huffing and puffing their way to a meeting upstairs.
Have a balanced lunch
Get all the food groups in there, but don’t eat too much. Studies have shown that unhealthy food is mostly unhealthy because of the colossal portions we eat. Plan your lunches so that they're packed with healthy slow release energy, fruit and carbs, to avoid that afternoon slump that makes you wonder if it’s all worth it. Don’t give in and sneak off to that kebab place near the office.
Get the right equipment
Ergonomic armrests will stop you from leaning forward all the time when you’re working. Ergonomic keyboards will keep your arms and wrists at more comfortable positions. An ergonomic office chair is designed to give you proper support for your back, neck, head and arms and allows a huge range of adjustability options, to let you find the perfect arrangement for your body. Speaking of ergonomics, this seems like a totally natural and uncontrived point to talk about Airospring cushions - they are, however, a genuinely great thing to use if you sit down all day.
Have a wander
The simple act of standing up or walking around can help stave off the negative health effects of sitting at a desk for most of the day. Your phone can help you in a number of ways. Take calls on it instead of the landline and have a pace about while you talk - you might look like you’re having a bit of a stress, but in actuality you’ll be floating about on a cloud of renewed health and vigour. We live in a modern age of constant nagging about our health and habits, so why not extend this to your phone? Apps like Move for iOS will give you gentle reminders that if you don’t get up right now and walk around a bit, you’ll die aged 40.
Chug down that water.
Adults are about 60% water (interesting fact: newborn babies are 78% water - it seems odd that something that’s ¾ water hurts so much to push out), so you might want to try drinking some throughout the day. Men should drink 2 litres of water a day, and women 1.6 litres. You could even make a competition out of it - channel your inner student and get chugging. Fizzy drinks are more difficult to drink enough of, because of the sweetness of them and gassiness they produce.
Say no to cake
Look Sally right in the eye and say “No. Enough is enough, Sally. I don’t care if you and your friends had some left over from Sunday tea, this prolonged campaign to undermine my health shall go on no longer. I won’t let you kill me, one chocolate brownie at a time.” Or, you could just say that you’re not hungry. Either option should be fine.
Encourage a healthy work culture
It’s way easier to stay healthy when you’ve got peers to make you feel bad about that lazy bacon sandwich or 11am chippy run (run is a bit generous, isn’t it? Meander is more likely). Encourage snide comments and mean looks to enforce an environment of guilt and judgement to basically force everyone to take part.
Ok, probably don't do that. With all sincerity, try putting up signs and sending out gentle emails to remind your colleagues that they could benefit from a healthy lifestyle. You could even have a daily workout session; some star jumps or even a bit of enforced standing for 20 minutes can really make the difference. Make healthy working feel like a team effort, encourage your employees to work together to achieve goals.