You should stand up for at least 10 mins each hour you sit and engage in some light activity. This is on top of the 2.5 hours of moderate to vigorous exercise you should do each week. These two things may just be enough to combat the serious and growing issue of sedentary behavior.
Your Guide to Having A Stand Up Day
Sitting to much has been called the new smoking, It is that serious. So if you work at home we offer you some ways you can stop from sitting to long. In other words get off your butt and do something useful. Go ahead and have a stand up day.
WALK THE DOG OR WALK YOURSELF
Stand Up, grab old Fido, and leash him up. Or maybe its a Fifi, either way a nice walk around the front will do wonders for your back and get you up off your chair. If you don’t have a dog or other animal you can walk, then walk yourself. Its only 10 minutes and you can go pretty far in that amount of time.
CLEAN THE FLOORS WITH A MOP, BROOM, OR VACUUM
Personally I like cleaning when choosing an activity to have a stand up day. Because I catch two fish with one hook. I get a clean house, my wife is happy, and I get to move around. So go ahead an mop that floor, I use a Swiffer and quick cleaning pads and do a little floor buffing. Or you can sweep away your time, and if that isn’t good enough. Break out the vacuum, I promise it does suck!
CLEAN THE TOILET
I don’t think anyone likes to clean the toilet. But I do believe everyone loves a sparkling clean toilet. So if you find yourself at the hour mark with ten minutes to spare go clean the porcelain throne till it shines. Any member in your house that uses it will be impressed! Want to go the extra mile fold a triangle tip in the toilet paper roll.
BRUSH YOUR TEETH REALLY WELL OR FLOSS THEM
This is so easy to do and teeth can use it no matter what time of the day it is. So stand up, brush your teeth really well. Or floss them really well. Walk around while you are doing it. If you are one of those people who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time then just stand.
DO THE DISHES OR LOAD/EMPTY THE DISHWASHER
This is one of my favorite things to do. If you do this once a day the dishes don’t pile up and become insurmountable. Get up and wash some dishes, or if you prefer to load the dishwasher then do it. Then the next time you need to stand you can empty it.
DUST FURNITURE – KEYBOARDS – OR DUSTY SHELVES
I do this task the most. Next to my desk I have a Swiffer duster handy and when I need to stand I go on a dusting spree. You will see me whirl around the house dusting ceiling fans, blinds, tops of doors, and other areas that have not seen a duster in years. Then I will blow out or dust my keyboards, computer fans, and mouses. Just make sure you are standing when you do it.
DRINK A GLASS OF WATER
This might not seem like a hard thing to do. But it is not as easy as it seems to slam a 16 oz glass of water in a few minutes. So get up, drink it slowly. And when you are done, you will have to get even more to use your newly cleaned bathroom.
FOLD SOME LAUNDRY OR CLEAN THE LINT FILTER WASH SOME BEDDING
We all have laundry that could be folded, or put in the hamper. Or maybe you have some bedding that hasn’t been washed since you bought it. But if everything is washed, folded, and neatly stored then go and clean out the lint trap on the dryer. Make sure you look down into the area that holds the screen and fish out any stray lint.
GO GET THE MAIL READ IT STANDING UP
If you have a mailbox that is on the street, or outside then get up and go get the mail. Then if you still have time go ahead and open some of it, read it while standing, and recycle it when you are done. But if you happen to win a FREE TRIP to Hawaii then I would break out into a happy dance.
CLEAN A LITTLE IN THE CLOSET AND DONATE SOME STUFF
If you are really ambitious then go to that closet you stuff everything into. Open the door and try not to get buried in an avalanche of useless junk you collected over the years. Take 10 minutes and pick things out you can donate or give away. Then go put it in the car so you actually do it.
MAKE THE BED CHANGE THE SHEETS AND PILLOW CASES
Who makes the bed nowadays? Unless you are one of those people with the 10,000 designed pillows on the bed. So one thing you can do is get up and change the sheets on the bed. Swap out sweaty, smelly pillow cases and make up the bed nice and neat. There is something about a made up bed that makes you feel accomplished.
TAKE OUT ALL THE GARBAGE
If there is one thing that is neglected in my house it is the garbage. Not the smelly kitchen garbage because the smelly cheese gets the boot. But all the other ones, like in the den, bathrooms, and bedrooms. The ones that are over flowing and no matter how much you put your foot in them. They just wont smash down any further. So grab a big bag and go around and empty all the trash. Your kids will thank you because they wont have to do it.
BONUS ITEM
I guess this is what you would call the Bakers Dozen. But if you cant remember when to stand, then get an Apple Watch or other Fitness tracker that will tell you each hour when to stand. It works wonders for me when my attention gets wrapped up in an interesting project.
CONCLUSION
Well its time for me to stand up. So the last part of this article I am actually writing standing up. So if you want to have a stand up day, and avoid living a sedentary life, then you need to get up and move around at least 10 mins of each hour you sit.
The human body is meant to move around and sitting is not a good position for you. You should be in motion and stay in motion for as long as you can. So get up, have a stand up day! Your heart, waistline, and older self will thank you.