Ask Slashdot: How To Stay Fit In the Office?

Kochnekov writes "This week I started my first co-op job as a chemical engineering student. I work in an R&D lab, but in between daily tasks there is a lot of downtime, which I spend at my desk, staring at my computer. I know Slashdot is used mostly by IT professionals and desk jockeys, so chances are you've all encountered the draining effects of sedentary office life: joint and back pain, weight gain, heart health risks, etc. What are some ways to counteract the negative health effects of a desk job, both during and after work?"

Comments

Stand At Your Desk

[Press2ToContinue]

I have an expandable lapdesk placed on top of my desk, elevating the laptop about a foot, and I sit on a mid-height stool so that I sit-stand all day. It makes a big difference in my legs and back.

Re:Stand At Your Desk

[ShanghaiBill]

I second this. A stand up desk is great for your legs, back and heart. Sitting can kill you. I use a 27" monitor with this arm, suspended from an overhead shelf. I can pivot it between a standing and sitting position. But as my legs and back have strengthened, I spend less and less time sitting. Now I usually only sit for meals and meetings.

Another advantage to standing, is that when people come into my office, they want to talk to me at eye-to-eye level. So they don't sit down either. This results in short-and-to-the-point conversations.

Re:Stand At Your Desk

[Anonymous Coward]

After switching to a stand-up desk, I won't go back. You want the stool though or it might get to be too much. A rubber pad on the floor for your feet can keep you standing comfortably longer.

Re:Stand At Your Desk

[10101001 10101001]

A stand up desk is great for your legs, back and heart. Sitting can kill you.

From the article: "Analyzing self-reported data from more than 222,000 people aged 45 and older, Australian researchers found that mortality risks spike after 11 hours of total daily sitting but are still 15 percent higher for those sitting between 8 and 11 hours compared to those sitting fewer than 4 hours per day."

My wild guess? Old people who slowly deteriorate because of old age quickly deteriorate once they reach the point they're confined to a wheel chair. It'd be about as much of a valuable study as noting that eating a significant amount of pureed food shows a mortality risk spike; because once you're at the state that all your food is and will always be pureed without any real hope of going back to solid food, you'll probably lose a lot of will to live, desire to eat, and be by the fact that you're eating puree-only food be in bad shape. By the same token, trying to force a person to stand or eat solid food probably won't do a lot since it's the physical deteriorating that needs fixed and while certain exercise and good food can help, I don't think it'll substantially influence the results.

Now, if all of this wasn't about a "mortality risk spike"... Besides, today most people *do* sit a lot more than people did two hundred years ago and life expectancy is a lot higher. Still, I do like the tagline, "Sitting: The Silent Killer".

Weed

[cultiv8]

and a bottle of water. Problem solved!

Any kind of heart rate raising activity will work.

[singingjim1]

But that shit is boring. Don't stay up late watching Colbert Report and get up early and ride a bike. And ride it like someone is chasing you that wants to kill you. I've lost 75 lbs and have turned myself into an elite amateur athlete (won a few races here and there on the road bike and mountain bike) by getting up early and riding. It works big time (I'm proof) and it's WAY more fun than calisthenics or going to a gym to work out. I work in front of a computer all day long. Cycling is literally saving my life.

ssh tunnel to a proxy, block images + colors

[Rogerborg]

Browse Slashdot while you're supposed to be working, use your lunch time to go for a walk.

At 44 with the same 30-inch belt size I had in uni

[Anonymous Coward]

My answers are these:
* Don't eat s***. You cannot out exercise a bad diet. Don't eat anything that comes in boxes or shiny wrappers with pictures of what it is supposed to look like. Ninety-nine per cent of having a flat stomach is eating well.
* You should be eating more fats than sugars.
* There is no idea exercise for losing weight, only consistency. Do what ever sport you love, but do it five days a week until someone puts you in a box.
* Very few people, particularly people who write books and give seminars, know anything about nutrition. Virtually everything you and everyone else thinks he knows about food is actually about culture.

Re:Round

[PT_1]

most slashdotters are round in shape asking them for fitness advice is a horrible idea.

I'm sure lots are, but I'd be surprised if there is a significantly larger proportion of overweight Slashdotters than in the general population. Staying healthy and being a geek aren't mutually exclusive.

For me it was easier than I thought

[bjdevil66]

Bottom line for many of us: 1) Cut back on the sugar and 2) take breaks from sitting. It really is that simple.

I'm a developer chained to a computer screen most of the day. Until early last year I was 220-225 lbs. (at 5'11"-6') - your stereotypical, middle-aged, pot-bellied developer dad.

Then one day last spring, I stopped eating the leftover junk on the snack table at work. Then I started eating eggs for breakfast sometimes, instead of a large bowl of "healthy" cereal. Jerky replaced a crappy hamburger when I didn't pack a lunch. Then I cut way back on the 9PM donut and diet soda runs to Circle K and the 11PM chips and salsa fests. If I had a sweet snack like ice cream, it'd be a scoop or two - not a full bowl of it.

That's all I changed. No crazy, expensive exercise DVD sets, gym memberships, or "chicken and leaves" diet torture. I just took a little more responsibility for what and how much junk I was eating.

I was genuinely surprised to see that over the next 3-4 months I dropped to 200-205 lbs, and I've stayed there, ever since. It's a sustainable change that has helped my belly size (I look better and feel a lot better) AND my wallet.

I also get up and walk around a few times a day. Instead of cigarette breaks, it's walking breaks. I can still think about what I'm working on, and my back and legs feel much better afterwards.

Re:Nearest Gym

[realityimpaired]

The problem with a gym membership is it takes a lot of willpower. Most people will see it as a chore or a task... I *have* to go to the gym and *exercise*. Ugh.

Walking/biking to work is what I'd suggest. Move to a place that's a few miles from work and start walking. Or if that's not feasible, move to a place that's 5-10 miles and ride your bike. Or if that's not feasible, get off the bus a few stops earlier, and walk the extra mile to go to work. It makes a huge difference, even though you're only getting an extra 20 minutes of exercise out of it.

Re:Excercise and diet

[The Dancing Panda]

Because then you look like a weirdo in your office. Geeks a lot of times have issues feeling awkward. This won't help.

Downtime in lab? Find something useful to do

[Mr. Underbridge]

I work in an R&D lab, but in between daily tasks there is a lot of downtime, which I spend at my desk, staring at my computer.

I say this as a manager in an R&D lab:

I want to hire self motivated people. And co-ops are a great way to end up with a full time position. But I will avoid like the plague people who sit staring at their computer because they weren't told what to do. If you weren't told what to do, ask what to do. If you get no guidance, suggest a side project of your own to work when you don't have other tasks. Failing that, if you're a scientist, find some journal articles and get smarter.

I wholeheartedly support the effort to get in shape, but I wouldn't start treating on-the-job downtime as an opportunity to engage in extracurricular activity. It might suggest you're not serious about your co-op. I realize you're probably young and think you're doing enough if you're doing what you told, but the people who get ahead are those who motivate themselves.

Best of luck in your co-op.

Cycling and stretching.

[DaveSlash]

Bike to work, take stretching brakes.

Re:Enroll in Martial Arts

[Anonymous Coward]

Krav Maga is the only form of self defense that is worth anything in a real fight.

More useful forms of self-defense (roughly in order of usefulness):

• Don't be an idiot that starts or otherwise gets into fights for stupid reasons.
• Avoid situations where fighting might happen.
• Convince the other guy not to fight.
• Have pepper spray or similar deterrent.
• Be able to find law enforcement before the other guy can attack you.
• Be able to run faster and/or longer than the other guy.
• Be able to hide.
• Give the other guy what he wants, memorize his face, license plate number, etc., and let the police handle it.

All that fails, then physical self defense would be worth it. I probably missed a bunch, but you get the idea.