You’d think sitting all day would be an easy thing. How can you hurt yourself when you don’t move much, right? Well, I’m not sure exactly how it works, but I can tell you that sitting still and not moving around CAN hurt you. In the spring, my back seized up on me due to exactly that. It was hell. I couldn’t move. I could barely walk, sitting hurt, laying down hurt, never mind trying to sit up after laying down. Pain! And it lasted for weeks.
Six months later, I’m still hyper aware of my back, and the twingey lasting effects of it.
Since then, I’ve been trying to make sure that when I sit and write for long periods, that I get up and move around as much as possible. I have a stepper – yes, an old school step aerobics stepper- right next to my desk, and I’ll get up and spend 4 or 5 minutes just stepping, in order to get blood flowing and move my body. Plus, I’m swimming three or four times a week to try an get overall better health. But, aside from the daily exercise people can/should do…there’s stretching. Simple easy stretching can go a long way to helping us feel better, and be more energetic.
Writers are not the only people who sit all day. If you, or someone you know works a desk job and stays put a lot of the time, take a look at these stretches from Prevention.com that will help make you feel like a fluid limber human being again!.