We’ve heard it before – apparently sitting is the new smoking and our health is suffering as a result.
According to a report released by Medibank in 2009, Australians spend as much as 80 per cent of our working day sedentary which can lead to back pain and increased risks of heart disease, diabetes and premature death.
It’s not a very optimist prognosis for those of us with office jobs.
However, according to biomechanist, movement advocate and author of Move Your DNA – Katy Bowman, the solution is simple – we just need to stop using our couches.
According to Dr. James Levine, who originally coined the phrase, “sitting is the new smoking,” the human body was never built to just sit all day.
“It is almost like sort of owning a really cool sports car and letting it idle all day long. The engine gets gunked up. That’s what happens to our bodies.” he told NBC News.
The Furniture Free movement wants you to throw out your couch, and Jessie Stephens is on board. Here’s why. Post continues after audio.
According to Bowman we could integrate more movement into our day by re-evaluating how we use the furniture in our homes – starting with the trusty old couch.
“Chairs restrict your movement, and we’ve been conditioned to think that they’re the only way to rest our bodies,” she says. “But rather, you can take a seat while still moving the parts of you that hardly ever get moved.”
Instead she advocates using various seated positions on the floor which naturally incorporate exercises like squats, lunges and hip stretches and utilise your muscles much more than simply sagging into your couch would.
“Many of them are essentially just sitting on the floor in various shapes,” Bowman specifies.
