WPH Press, 12/9/20
Each Wednesday the WPH features the WPH Wednesday Workout, designed to help you become a stronger, fitter, faster, and better handball player. From leg and shoulder strengthening exercises to HIT Training, biking, and rest, the WPH Wednesday Workouts focus on the areas that every handball player needs to reach their peak form.
On this WPH Wednesday Workout, we’ll discuss how to combat sitting all day, particularly as you go from the office to the courts.
Many people are stuck at a desk for 10 hours a day, spending most of those 10 hours sitting.
According to WebMD HERE, those who spend most of their days sitting are twice as likely to develop heart disease than those who stand for most of the day, sitting can shorten your life, exercising does not necessarily undo long stretches of sitting, sitting makes dementia more likely, your odds of diabetes rise, you are more likely to develop DVT (deep vein thrombosis), you’ll gain weight, your anxiety will likely spike, sitting will likely cause back, neck, and spine stress, sitting leads to varicose veins, you could develop osteoporosis, and your risk of cancer goes up.
How do we prevent these disastrous consequences of sitting?
WebMD HERE urges you to Take a Stand:
- Stand up and stretch every half hour
- Touch your toes and take a stroll around the office
- Stand at your desk for part of the day – get a desk that raises
- Keep moving
SELF HERE concurs with WebMD, stating that the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes dramatically increases with sitting for most of the day, but those risks can be minimized by standing for 30-40 minutes per day, preferably at a standing desk. In addition to increased standing throughout the day, SELF recommends strengthening exercises that target the core, work the posterior muscles of the body, engage the legs, and help with proper pelvic and spinal alignment.
SELF recommends these exercises
- Dead Bug – 20 reps, alternating
- Plank – 30 seconds
- Single Leg Bridges – 12 reps each leg
- Kettlebell Deadlifts – 15 reps
- Bent-Over Row – 15 reps each arm
- Goblet Squats – 15 reps
*For explanations on these exercises, go HERE
Red Bull HERE provides additional exercises to combat the harmful effects of sitting for most of the day, intended to reverse the damaging consequences of sitting.
- Lunge and Rotate
- Hinge and Hold
- Deep Squat
- Breathing
- Walking
- Pull more than push
- Get off the couch
*For explanations on Red Bull’s anti-sitting measures, go HERE
You’ve read this Wednesday Workout sitting down, now get up and get moving…you’ve got the tools!
David Fink
WPH Fitness Director