Do you sit down all day? Here's six stretches you need to stop your body seizing up

Unfortunately, many of us have jobs where we are required to sit for extended periods of the day. In terms of our health, it's a terrible situation to find ourselves in.

Almost all the research on the subject suggests that sitting for long periods of time raises a number of health concerns, including obesity and metabolic syndrome — the umbrella term for conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels. Too much sitting also seems to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

No wonder sitting has been described as 'the new smoking'. For our bodies, it's absolutely ruinous.

But it's also an easy habit to develop. And I say 'habit' here on purpose, because while many of us are office workers, that doesn't necessarily mean to have to spend all day sitting down.

Let me give you a little more detail to help you visualise what I mean. The average commute in London is 45 minutes, each way. Most people sit for this (if possible), and then spend an average of seven to eight hours sitting at their desk. Add another an hour or two in front of the telly in the evening, and that’s almost 12 hours sitting down every day.

Even an hour’s exercise, three to four times per week does not cancel out this much inactivity.

The good news is that there are easy 'fixes' to rectify things. Studies suggest that getting up and moving regularly throughout the day can counteract the negative effects of sitting all day – so you can be an office worker and still give your body the movement it needs to stay healthy. 

Four tips to increase your activity throughout the day

1. Set a reminder on your phone for every hour and spend five minutes walking and stretching whenever the alert goes off. 

2. Stand up on your commute. I know this may sound like a horrible idea but it's a really simple way to activate all the muscles that have been inactive all day. Sitting down on the train is a habit at the moment, so you should be able to make standing up a habit instead.

3. Take the stairs, not the escalator or lift. When it comes to physical activity on a day to day basis, always try and challenge yourself. Don’t take the easy option.

4. Take your trainers into work. On the way home, get off 1 or 2 stops early and walk/run the rest of the way. This is an effective way of increasing activity without having to make time to go to the gym.

Those four little tricks will help to get you moving – but if you really want to counteract the ill effects of sitting down, I'd suggest adding stretches to your day. Sitting is a static, passive action that actively inhibits your range of movement. In the video below, I've demonstrated six stretches that will help to balance out the restrictive sitting position you adopt while at a computer. The stretches open your chest, strengthen your back, and reinforce your core, so you will maintain your range of movement and stand tall when you do get up from the chair.

I recommend doing them three times per day – as soon as you wake up, during your lunch break and right before bed.

Now, that may seem a bit excessive, but I beg to differ. Your joints and muscles work on a 'use it or lose it basis' – as soon as you stop moving in certain ways you will lose those movements. You may not notice this happening, but over long periods of time (sitting at a desk for your entire working life) it can end up being seriously debilitating.

Following these simple steps over time can have a profound effect on your overall flexibility, mobility and quality of life. Small changes over time reap long lasting benefits.

The 2 Meal Day by Max Lowery is out now, £14.99. You can also follow Max on Instagram, YouTube and Faceboo