Friday 28th April 2017 is “On Your Feet” day and Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland is joining the nation to take a stand for improved office wellness and productivity by getting on our feet.  We’re delighted to support the Get Britain Standing and Active Working campaign. 

The aim is that you and your team will sit less and move more for the day! You can be as creative as you like, have fun with your colleagues but above all reduce your sitting time.

Why?

• Sitting for long periods increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes and early death
• Standing burns more calories than sitting
• Standing reduces back pain
• You might even be more productive when standing

How much sitting time can you reduce?

On average, us Brits sit for 8.9 hours each day. Health risks can start to occur after just 4 hours of sitting!

Tips to ‘get up offa that thing’ today:

• Make phone calls standing up
• Host a standing or walking meeting
• Ban lunch at your desk
• Take the stairs instead of the lift (or at least part of the way)
• Wander over to your colleagues desk instead of emailing or phoning
• Stuck in a presentation? No worries, try standing at the back of the room
• Stretch your legs at lunchtime with  a brisk walk
• Try a mid-afternoon stretch using the exercises below

Try standing up from your desk at least once an hour (in the CHSS head office, we’ll be blowing a whistle every hour to remind folk to stand up!)

Still not convinced you need to take part?

Take this ‘sitting survey’ to calculate just how many hours you are sitting every day!

Feeling inspired?

Check out these great exercises from NHS Choices that you can do right from your desk (Ps. Try them standing up if you can!)

Image credit: NHS Choices

Will you join us?

Tell us about how you and your colleagues are getting up “On Your Feet” today and use the hashtags #SitLess #MoveMore

Stay ‘On Your Feet’ with one of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s fun events – from running, walking, abseiling and cycling, there’s something for everyone.