Don't just sit there, get moving!

So sitting can kill you, eh? You may have seen articles about how sitting, a restful activity, has become a potential killer. In the workplace, products are starting to show up to help workers deal with that new threat. First some background from the linked interview:

• "…women who were inactive and sat over six hours a day were 94 percent more likely to die during the time period studied than those who were physically active and sat less than three hours a day."
• "…men who were inactive and sat the same amount of time were 48 percent more likely to die than their standing counterparts."

Workers don't have to sit the whole day anymore because new products are coming out to change the situation. Those product designs include working your core, a focus of Martin Keen, CEO and founder of Focal Upright, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He said "the best way is for them to discover their physicality because they’re having to keep their core slightly engaged, which just makes you feel more human again."

While Keen focuses on workspace design, physical movement is clearly relevant to healthy workers. I came across an article about the benefits of Nordic walking that include working your core because of the requirement to stand upright, the posture Keen tries to incorporate in his designs.