If you can’t stop shaking your knee, don’t try to stop. “Kiss The Fidget”, explains Katy Bowman, biomecanist and author of the book Repending your position. This spontaneous movement can be the way of your body to tell you that it is time to move.
Kiersten Essential for NPR
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Kiersten Essential for NPR
Have you ever wondered why you bounce on the leg, your fingers buffer or click and come out your pen until your colleagues you ask you to stop?
Do not fight fidget! It may be the way of your body to tell you that “for any reason, you need movement at the moment,” explains Katy Bowman, biomecanist and author of the books Repending your position And The movement counts. So get up, change position, stretch or do some physical activity.
Scientific support shows that it is good for our health. The agitation increases blood flow to our members, helps regulate blood sugar and reduce the risk of mortality by a prolonged session. It can relieve stress and anxiety and improve attention, especially for some people with ADHD or other neurodivergenous identities.
But as many of us know, it can be difficult to detach ourselves from our computers in the middle of a working day. Physiotherapists and researchers decompose our desire for Fidget and offer means suitable for offices to satisfy the need for movement.
Change your position (and don’t worry too much about the “good posture”)
The booty is a sign that you have to get out of a stagnant posture, explains Bowman. Even a position that feels comfortable at first can start to cause back pain, headache or stiffness if you hold it long enough.
So listen to your body and mix things. Alternate between sitting, standing, tilting and moving. This could mean opting to stand at the back of a conference room at a large staff meeting, taking a call by walking or reading a report with your feet supported in the break room. You can also try a hybrid-sit-stand office. Studies have shown that such offices can reduce discomfort in the lower back, neck, shoulders and more.
The goal is to put you in configurations that twist your body in different ways. They should be “adaptive and dynamic” and easy to “change and go out”, explains Leada Malek, physiotherapist and author of the book Stretching science.
Don’t worry too much about what is “good” and “bad” posture. Malek and Bowman both agree on a common sentence among physiotherapists: “Your best posture is your next posture.”
Anticipate your need for movement
Whatever way you wave or move throughout the day, Bowman wants to dispel the idea that the movement should not belong to our workplaces.
“There is a great assumption that if people move and take care of the physical needs of their bodies, they cannot meet their mental needs,” she said.
In fact, there are many evidence to the opposite: “If you are someone who needs to move, the move can really help you regulate yourself.” And this allows you to do the best job possible.
Plan “exercise snacks”
Take ahead of your agitation by taking a movement break after each task. Make 10 squats at the top of all hours or jumps to jump each time you cross something from your task list or finish a meeting, explains Malek.
Sit at an office all day puts stress on your spine, shoulders and hips. Finally, it can cause chronic pain. A sedentary lifestyle also increases our risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and metabolic disorders.
“Doing a three -minute training, walking or making slots from top to bottom of your room could help a lot” with physical discomfort, explains Malek.
Done regularly, these short intermittent exercise gusts, called “exercise snacks”, can also increase your metabolism and help you live longer, explains Jayne Morgan, cardiologist and vice-president of medical affairs in Hello Heart, an application cardiovascular health monitoring.
Make a five-minute walk (every half hour to be precise)
If you are Poured to enter your exercise snacks in a crowded office, you can also check this box with short and frequent walks.
Researcher Keith Diaz and his team from Columbia University Medical Center, in partnership with our colleagues from Body Electric, decided to find the less Movement amount you need to counter the dangers of a prolonged seat.
“We found that a five-minute walk every half hour compensating a large part of the damage to the sitting position,” said Diaz. With only five minutes of quiet walking, the participants in the study saw blood sugar peaks after a reduced meal of almost 60%.
And you don’t need to book it either. “Any walking pace offers a cardiovascular advantage,” says Morgan. So take a few minutes to get up and punctuate your office or complete a loop around the block.
What about fidget toys?
You may have fidget toys like stress balls, spinners and pop-fish at your office. What role do they play in our impulse to bounce back and type?
Research on these toys is contradictory. Certain studies on agitated toys in children and class students have shown that these gadgets can negatively affect the attention, memory and the ability to focus on tasks.
Other studies suggest that they can help regulate emotions or reduce anxiety in children, especially in active agitators. They can also be a useful tool for certain children and adults autistic who perform similar or repeated self -regulation movements.
So if you want a point of sale to help you meet more of your sensory or movement needs, you can try to keep fidget toys on your desktop. But be careful – they could be a little distracting.
Digital history has been published by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We would be delighted to hear you. Leave us a voice message at 202-216-9823, or send us an email to Lifekit@npr.org.
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