---
title: "Tips for Avoiding a Sedentary Lifestyle in the Workplace"
date: 2007-07-21
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canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2007/07/21/tips-for-avoiding-the-sedentary-lifestyle-even-when-you-work-in-it/
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# Tips for Avoiding a Sedentary Lifestyle in the Workplace
Blogger J. Angelo Racoma explains what happens as he turned into a full-time freelancer and blogger and settled into a sedentary lifestyle:

> When I quit the corporate grind to be a freelancer and a problogger, I usually stayed at home when I didn't have meetings and events to attend—which are actually quite infrequent and irregular. I found myself going out only once in a while to do my banking transactions—those I couldn't do online—and to take the wife and kids out during weekends. And then there are the cupboard raids for sugary and salty snacks, and of course the unlimited supply of coffee.
> In short, turning problogger has caused me to live a sedentary lifestyle, compared to the relatively mobile and healthy daily routine I had before. I watched my waistline grow a couple of inches from its usual. I also sometimes feel sluggish because my muscles have atrophied from non-use! (Okay, exaggerating here.) The only muscles I get to exercise these days are my typing fingers and my coffee mug-lifting arm. ([Source](http://racoma.com.ph/archives/problogging-tip-avoid-the-sedentary-lifestyle))

Whether at home or in your company office, a life of physical inactivity leads to a number of problems. A surprising recent study found that a sedentary lifestyle carries with it more dangers than cigarettes:

> Following a sedentary lifestyle is more dangerous for your health than smoking, says a new study reported in the South China Morning Post, and carried out by the University of Hong Kong and the Department of Health. In the study, researchers looked at the level of physical activity in people who died and were able to correlate their level of physical activity with their risk of dying. The results are fascinating: 20% of all deaths of people 35 and older were attributed to a lack of physical activity. That's more deaths than can be attributed to smoking. ([Source](http://www.newstarget.com/001547.html))

In addition to being a bit boring and increasing your love handles, a sedentary lifestyle "is believed to be a factor in obesity, and, in doing so, may contribute to other diseases, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, and hemorrhoids" ([Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedentary)). 

I know someone with Guillain-Barre, a paralyzing disease of the muscles and nerves, who is productive and energetic online -- sending multiple, long e-mails each day, responding quickly and following up to each message I send him.

But in real life, he can only move about one foot a second using a walker. Except for the mobility of his fingers, his other body parts seems unnecessary for the online world. He's proof that interaction in the online world requires very little physical exertion whatsoever (except sitting on your butt for long periods of time). The problem is that the less we use our bodies, the less healthy they become.