Get Moving! 5 Ways to Offset Sitting Too Much During the Workday

"Aim to take a movement break once every half hour,” the folks at GoodRx suggested. “A five-minute break is ideal, but even moving for a couple of minutes helps. If you’re in a set workspace, you can get up and walk around your home or office. If you work from home, you can do a quick chore, like watering the plants or doing some dishes.”

According to experts at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center: “During times when you can’t get up and move around, even just squeezing the muscles of the core, hips and legs for a few repetitions will get those muscles activated and help get the blood circulating.”

"If possible, switch to a standing desk or a desk converter to allow for a mix of sitting and standing throughout your workday,” experts at Baptist Health South Florida said. Sitting or standing too long can have adverse effects on circulation.

Getting up to stretch things out is a good idea. And the one-arm doorframe stretch is a good place to start. Per CNN Health, it “provides relief of tension in your chest muscles and the front of your shoulders that come from slumping in a seated open doorway, place a forearm on the doorframe with your elbow bent to 90 degrees at shoulder height. Rotate your body away from your arm until you feel a stretch in the front of your chest. Hold for three long, deep breaths.”

Per the University of Washington’s UW Medicine, “If you find it hard to remember to take breaks, drinking water will remind you to move because you will need to get up to go to the bathroom. Not only does this keep you hydrated, it forces you to stretch your legs instead of falling into the trap of remaining seated for the entire workday."