5 Easy tips to help if you stand all day

  • Wear comfortable and supportive shoes, and make sure they fit your feet well. This is probably not your time to break in new shoes– stick to the tried and true.
  • Keep moving in different ways: your body is really meant to move, so your back, legs and feet can gets stiff and sore if you’re standing still for sustained periods. You can delay this with shifting your weight side to side, or bending your knees up, or coming up and down on your toes repeatedly. Just try to keep your body moving around consistently.
  • Consider compression hose/ socks: these socks can help encourage blood flow back up your legs toward your heart, and prevent pooling of fluid in your feet and ankles.
  • Stand on a cushioned mat or carpet if possible, as a softer surface can be helpful to delay soreness in your feet and legs.
  • Try to sit when you can: this ties in with point number two, to just change your position. When you’re taking a break or having lunch, try to sit– just putting your body in another position can be very helpful!

You Now Have a Standing Desk for Work. What Now?

Do you have a standing desk ? Here are some considerations for your work day.

We’ve now all heard that sitting is the new smoking, and you found that sitting for hours on end during work made your back and neck sore. You now have a standing desk, but how long should you be standing? What height is best? What about how you’re standing? So many questions!

Some of these questions are covered in the short video above, but it would be important to gradually build up your standing tolerance at the desk. Start with about 15-20 minutes, then sit for a time, and alternate positions through the day. Eventually try to stand for 40-50% of your work day.

It can also be helpful to have a small step in front, and have the option to put one foot up for some of your standing time. Obviously, you would want to switch feet at times while standing.

A standing desk can be a great option to break up periods of sitting, and still be productive in your day!

Tired of Sitting all Day? Try This Option when Working at Home

Even if your work station is set up ergonomically, it is best to change up your position during your work day. Our bodies are meant to move, and so many of us have jobs that require us to be sitting for extended periods of time.

These days it is common to have a standing desk or platform, and that is a great way to change your position during work. Here is a nice variation to the standing option that isn’t an obvious solution. Give it a try!

Strength Training

No one has ever told me that they feel they have injured their (fill in the blank here) because they are too strong.  I agree with this article in The Globe and Mail on two tenets of strength training.

I would also emphasize that form is important, and breathing is even more important, especially with core work.  Ideally with every exercise you want to perform a core breath, which is actively engaging the pelvic floor muscles as you exhale.  This manages the increase in abdominal pressure as you are working your core muscles, and prevents that pressure from being forced downward to your pelvic floor muscles.

We all know it’s important not to slouch for long periods… and that’s easy to say and hard to do! This article from the Globe and Mail has some solid information on movement, and how to “unlearn” that poor habits that keep us all rounded forward!