Sitting in an office chair all day and the issues it can cause

A lot of us work sedentary, office-based roles. One major disadvantage of this type of environment is that it can create complications to employee health and wellbeing. It’s imperative that employees are encouraged to stay active, even throughout the working day. In this blog, we’ll spend some time discussing the risks involved in sitting in an office chair for too long as well as some of the measures everyone can take to mitigate these risks, including finding a new office chair for your workspace.

Health Issues caused by sitting in an Office Chair all-day

A lot of us have heard about the growing evidence advising against sitting in office chairs all day. Aside from the fact that constant sitting limits the amount of time a person will spend standing/ walking, it can also contribute to serious medical conditions like Deep Vein Thrombosis. To be really dramatic, some studies have shown that inactivity can be linked to type 2 diabetes, some forms of cancer and even death.

For further information on the dangers of sitting too long, click here.

Sitting in an office chair all day can cause other issues too. For example, if the chair that you’re using is of poor ergonomic design, over time you can develop problems with back pain, hip flexors, posture and potentially muscular atrophy.

Overcoming these health issues

Thankfully, there are a number of ways that you can reduce the risks of prolonged sitting, and some of them are surprising.

Fit in Exercise & Movement during the Day

It’s not necessarily about dedicating blocks of time to working out in a gym or spending huge amounts of money with personal trainers. For almost everyone, one of the biggest ways you can change your life and improve your health is simply by being more active.

In the context of work, this can mean that whenever the phone rings, you stand up whilst you speak. Instead of sitting down to brainstorm ideas, you can go for a quick walk to help invigorate your mind and muscles. Take a quick break every hour or so to remove yourself from your screen and help adjust your focus.

It’s easy as well to make quick changes to how you approach your health and wellbeing away from the desk too. Ever thought to yourself whilst you’re waiting for the elevator at work, that you’d probably walk up the stairs just as quickly? Next time take the stairs. You might feel tired at first but after a while you’d be shocked at how quickly those small changes add up to big gains. It might only be 60 steps and 1 flight of stairs but when you’re doing that a few times a day and comparing that to what you’d have done if you still used the elevator, the results will surprise you.

At lunchtime, avoid sitting at your desk to eat your food or relax. A conscious effort to leave the office either for a walk or by going elsewhere to eat can make a big difference. You could make this a habit by making it a small, regular team-building activity for the whole office to participate in.

Find a new Office Chair

As we said before, sitting can cause issues such as back pain or postural difficulties. These can be caused by both the way you sit as well as the length of time you spend sitting. Your employer may be able to help by providing a desk assessment and alerting you to any improvements that you can make to how you sit at your desk. Alternately, the problem could be the quality of the chair you’re using. Many people are using old, uncomfortable, non-ergonomic office chairs, meaning that all the good posture in the world won’t help.

Our range of Leather Office Chairs are comfortable, stylish and have ergonomic features, such as adjustable arm and headrests. You could also view our range of Ergonomic Office Chairs for more comfortable chairs in a variety of materials.

This is a very brief overview of the potential risks of sedentary office jobs. We’ve discussed how to avoid long-term health risks, and what types of chairs to look for if your old chair isn’t cutting it anymore. If you’re interested in replacing your chair, you can browse our range of office chairs here, including Leather Office Chairs, Ergonomic Office Chairs, Executive Office Chairs.