During my many years of working retail, I would fantasize about having a desk job each night while I elevated my aching feet.
Finally, my dream came true. My feet rejoiced. It was suitable for a few months. And then….the back pain set in. This was how I learned sitting comes with its own set of pain problems.

My back began to throb so severely that sitting felt like torture. At the desk, or in my car, it didn’t matter. I was writhing in pain. Sometimes, on the ride home, it was so bad I had to vocalize it, howling as I sped down the Garden State Parkway, anxious to get home and get an ice pack on my back.

I began to gain weight and feel unusually tired. Not the physical ware that I felt in my old life as a retail worker, but this deep, mental tiredness which made me feel unmotivated in my life outside of work. Research led me to learn this, too, is a result of desk life, as sitting is detrimental to your health. I reminisced my fitter, leaner retail days. However, I couldn’t go back to that life of erratic schedules, angry customers, and weekends. No way! I had only one option: I had to counteract this sitting if I wanted to keep my health – and my sanity – intact.

I decided to commit to the “active hours” feature on my fitness tracker. This means you choose a window of time in which you make sure to get up at least once an hour. At ten minutes of, if you have not completed 250 steps (approximately two minutes of walking) in that hour, the Fitbit vibrates gently to remind you to move. I set my window from 9-5.

Once an hour, I get up and do a lap around the building I work in. I’ve been doing this for almost two months. I kid you not when I say, the back pain has significantly reduced. There are days when I don’t feel it at all. Getting up and away from my desk once an hour has given me more drive at work. When my brain feels like it’s burning out, that quick lap rejuvenates me. I have been feeling more energized, less achy, and motivated! The effects of this new habit have been positive enough that I still plan to do it during the winter months!

The days I get all 250 steps in each hour between 9 am and 5 pm, I add roughly 15 minutes of activity to my day. Out of curiosity, I Googled how this could be positively affecting my health. According to WebMD, being sedentary for long periods increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Incorporating short bursts of activity into your day can help counteract sitting’s deadly ramifications. Our bodies were built to move, after all!