Take the load on your feet

Updated: 2013-09-18 10:32

By Liu Zhihua ( China Daily)

Office workers need to spend less time sitting and more time standing, a growing chorus of experts tells Liu Zhihua.

Sitting kills. Many studies have showed a sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for many health conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and obesity. A more recent study over a 14-year period by the American Cancer Society finds that women who sat for more than six hours a day were about 40 percent more likely to die during the course of the study than those who sat fewer than three hours a day. Men were about 20 percent more likely to die, according to the study. Fortunately, it seems that people are becoming aware of the health risks of extended period of sitting. Some have already adopted healthier poses for work.

Meng Qingguang, 26, founder of a startup IT company in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, no longer sits at work all the time.

Instead, he spends about four hours a day standing while at work: two hours in the morning and the other two in the afternoon.

"It feels good to stand at work," Meng says, adding that he usually stands for an hour after sitting for similar amount of time.

"Working in the IT industry requires a lot of time sitting before a computer. After a couple of years, you always feel there is something wrong with your body."

Meng has been in the industry for four years, and he notices that senior coders, most of them in their 40s, always seem to have severe occupational health issues, such as indigestion, cervical spondylosis and hemorrhoids.

For Meng, avoiding hemorrhoids and indigestion is all the motivation he needs to stand up at work. He feels better now, he says.

"Our body is not made to sit long," says Qi Qiang, a senior orthopedist with Peking University Third Hospital.

"When you sit, you put immense pressure on the spine. But when you stand up, the pressure will be reduced, and when you lie down, the pressure is the lightest."

Under consistent pressure from sitting, bones, muscles and related nerves will get pressed, strained and even dislocated, causing mild to severe symptoms, including back pain and numbness in limbs, Qi explains.

The cervical and lumbar vertebrae are the most vulnerable spine parts for people who sit for long hours, Qi adds.

"The damage is subtle but it adds up in every second, and such damage can accumulate to a very harmful and even life-threatening level," Qi says.

"It is important to stand up and be active from time to time."

Guo Xiaohui, director of the endocrinology department with Peking University First Hospital, agrees.

Different positions and actions use different muscle groups. When people sit, some muscle groups are relaxed, while others are moving and in use, Guo says.

Guo suggests vanity as well as health should inspire a change in posture. If people keep sitting, he says, some muscles are continuously strained and become damaged, while more others are not getting any exercise - resulting in an expanding waistline and bigger butt.

Besides, when people sit for long hours, especially when they are under stress, the endocrine system is also under stress and will produce "bad" hormones that can lead to fat accumulation and blood vessels inflammation, Guo says. "You cannot stay motionless and stay healthy."

Guo warns that either standing or sitting, if done for too long, is harmful. One method to avoid stress and injury caused by remaining too long in one position, Guo suggests, is sitting on a yoga ball.

Shen Yiren, a marketing staff member in a Shenzhen-based company, has been sitting on yoga balls while working since late 2011.

He used to feel discomfort in his neck and waist, as well as his shoulders, but now those problems have minimized, Shen says.

The yoga-ball option, he says, is more convenient than standing up, and because of the ball's instability, your awareness is elevated.

"It usually is hard to remember to stand up or take a stroll, especially when you are so busy with work," Shen says. "With a yoga ball, there is no such problem."

Guo also warns it is not wise to sit on a yoga ball during intensive work, because absence of mind may bring about accidents and injury.

While some people have become aware of the health risks posed by sitting long hours at work, for most people, the practice seems justified and still dominates in China.

Samson Mo, a Chinese-Canadian working in Shanghai, says he has planned to use a standing desk, but failed to get one in a fitness-equipment store. In his hometown of Vancouver, standing desks and treadmills had already become quite popular in offices as early as in 2007, Mo says.

Options in China are limited, as most people find it natural or convenient to sit for extended hours day after day.

Meng Qingguang, the IT company founder, says when he wanted to buy a standing desk, he found the options either too pricey or of bad quality.

Instead, Meng positions a small table on his working desk, and when he wants to stand up, he puts the computer onto the small table.

"I just hope more people and companies in China will realize the fact that sitting too long is bad, and it is time to change," he says.

Office workers urged to move

Updated: 2013-09-18 07:49

By Liu Zhihua (China Daily)

For office workers, the neck and waist are the areas most likely to have problems, so it is important to exercise in a way that helps to relieve such discomfort and damage, experts say.

"Swimming and kite flying are the most advisable exercises for people who work for a long time at a desk," says Qi Qiang, a senior orthopedist with Peking University Third Hospital.

The cervical spine is backward "C" shaped, with a complicated system of ligaments, tendons and muscles that are attached with nerves to support the head and its movement.

But if people sit and look down at the computer screen for several hours day after day, the muscles are not relaxed, the cervical spine tends to lose its lordotic shape, and sometimes even progresses to curve forward instead, Qi says.

Most importantly, when people sit, the waist is under more pressure than other parts of the body and the lumbar spine and muscles related would be damaged because of such long-term pressure, Qi says.

People will start to feel uncomfortable, such as having pain and numbness in the neck, waist and limbs as the spine and muscles around these areas get damaged. Any exercise that makes people look up is good, such as swimming, kite flying and playing badminton, Qi says.

Bones throughout the body start degenerating when people are in their 20s, and exercises can help slow down the progress, Qi adds.

Guo Xiaohui, an endocrinologist with Peking University First Hospital, warns that exercise cannot undo the damage that sitting for long hours at work can do, in the same way that people who smoke a lot can't undo the damage to their lungs by exercising.

"Life is in movement. It is important to move around as much as possible and not just to sit down during long office hours," Guo says.

"Even breaks for a brief walk around the office can help you stay healthy."

However, while doing exercises, it is important to know your limits and not strain oneself, especially if you have already had problems with your spine, notes Qi.

Qi says he has met lots of people who hurt themselves because they are not aware of their health condition and exercise beyond their capacity.

People with orthopedic problems, such as cervical spondylosis, a degenerative condition of the cervical spine, should exercise only strictly under direction from an orthopedist, Qi adds.

"Exercise is good, but only when people do it regularly and reasonably," Qi says.

"Otherwise, it can be harmful."

(China Daily 09/18/2013 page19)